Valerie Watzlaf, PhD returns for a second appearance tomorrow during the live broadcast.
Valerie J. Watzlaf, PhD, MPH, RHIA, FAHIMA, recently elected American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) President/Chair of the group’s 2019 Board of Directors, will be the special guest today on Talk Ten Tuesdays, according to Chuck Buck, ICD10monitor publisher and broadcast executive producer and co-host.
Dr. Watzlaf is vice chair of education and an associate professor within the Department of Health Information Management (HIM) in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS) at the University of Pittsburgh. She also holds a secondary appointment in the University’s Graduate School of Public Health. In those capacities, she teaches and performs research in the areas of HIM, epidemiology, quality improvement, statistics, and long-term care.
Dr. Watzlaf has served or chaired many AHIMA committees, including the Data Quality Task Force, the Coding, Policy, and Strategy Committee, Research Committee, Council on Accreditation, Council for Excellence in Education, Board of Directors, and the Foundation Board of Directors, according to an AHIMA news release. She is also on the editorial advisory board for the Journal of AHIMA and Perspectives in HIM. Watzlaf has published extensively in the field of HIM, delivering more than 100 presentations and authoring more than 50 publications.
Dr. Watzlaf has received the AHIMA Research Award, the Pennsylvania Health Information Management Association’s Distinguished Member Award, and the University of Pittsburgh’s SHRS Distinguished Alumnus Award, according to AHIMA.
“We are honored that Dr. Watzlaf will be returning to Talk Ten Tuesdays,” Buck said. “In her last appearance on the broadcast, she and Patty Sheridan, senior vice president at Ciox Health, jointly presented what was considered to be the largest ICD-10 coder productivity research study – which was, at the time, a serious issue.”
Ciox Health had partnered with the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Health Information Management to examine inpatient coding times. The university provided the research design and statistical analysis. Both Sheridan and Watzlaf appeared on the aforementioned June 20, 2017 broadcast.
Participating in the broadcast along with Dr. Watzlaf will be Laurie Johnson, Timothy Powell, and Stanley Nachimson. Holly Louie will co-host, sitting in for Erica Remer, MD.
“Laurie Johnson, who is a Fellow of AHIMA, will be reporting on what are considered to be the 10 most expensive chronic conditions with regards to ICD-10 codes, as well as clinical documentation and HCC impacts,” Buck said. “Nachimson, a former career professional with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), will be reporting on the latest healthcare regulations coming out of Washington, while Powell will be reporting the latest healthcare news.”
Here at MedLearn, we know cardiology coders are the unsung heroes of patient care. Every day, as a cardio coder you navigate complex cardiovascular procedures, including the constantly –changing CPT® and ICD-10-CM
The recent settlement between Kaiser Permanente and the federal government marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing debate over risk-adjustment practices in Medicare Advantage (MA)
Please log in to your account to comment on this article.
Expert presenters Kathy Pride, RHIT, CPC, CCS-P, CPMA, and Brandi Russell, RHIA, CCS, COC, CPMA, break down complex fracture care coding rules, walk through correct modifier application (-25, -57, 54, 55), and clarify sequencing for initial and subsequent encounters. Attendees will gain the practical knowledge needed to submit clean claims, ensure compliance, and stay one step ahead of payer audits in 2026.
Accurately determining the principal diagnosis is critical for compliant billing, appropriate reimbursement, and valid quality reporting — yet it remains one of the most subjective and error-prone areas in inpatient coding. In this expert-led session, Cheryl Ericson, RN, MS, CCDS, CDIP, demystifies the complexities of principal diagnosis assignment, bridging the gap between coding rules and clinical reality. Learn how to strengthen your organization’s coding accuracy, reduce denials, and ensure your documentation supports true medical necessity.
Denials continue to delay reimbursement, increase administrative burden, and threaten financial stability across healthcare organizations. This essential webcast tackles the root causes—rising payer scrutiny, fragmented workflows, inconsistent documentation, and underused analytics—and offers proven, data-driven strategies to prevent and overturn denials. Attendees will gain practical tools to strengthen documentation and coding accuracy, engage clinicians effectively, and leverage predictive analytics and AI to identify risks before they impact revenue. Through real-world case examples and actionable guidance, this session empowers coding, CDI, and revenue cycle professionals to shift from reactive appeals to proactive denial prevention and revenue protection.
Sepsis remains one of the most frequently denied and contested diagnoses, creating costly revenue loss and compliance risks. In this webcast, Angela Comfort, DBA, MBA, RHIA, CDIP, CCS, CCS-P, provides practical, real-world strategies to align documentation with coding guidelines, reconcile Sepsis-2 and Sepsis-3 definitions, and apply compliant queries. You’ll learn how to identify and address documentation gaps, strengthen provider engagement, and defend diagnoses against payer scrutiny—equipping you to protect reimbursement, improve SOI/ROM capture, and reduce audit vulnerability in this high-risk area.
Stay ahead of the 2026-2027 audit surge with “Top 10 Audit Targets for 2026-2027 for Hospitals & Physicians: Protect Your Revenue,” a high-impact webcast led by Michael Calahan, PA, MBA. This concise session gives hospitals and physicians clear insight into the most likely federal audit targets, such as E/M services, split/shared and critical care, observation and admissions, device credits, and Two-Midnight Rule changes, and shows how to tighten documentation, coding, and internal processes to reduce denials, recoupments, and penalties. Attendees walk away with practical best practices to protect revenue, strengthen compliance, and better prepare their teams for inevitable audits.
As AI reshapes healthcare compliance, the risk of biased outputs and opaque decision-making grows. This webcast, led by Frank Cohen, delivers a practical Four-Pillar Governance Framework—Transparency, Accountability, Fairness, and Explainability—to help you govern AI-driven claim auditing with confidence. Learn how to identify and mitigate bias, implement robust human oversight, and document defensible AI review processes that regulators and auditors will accept. Discover concrete remedies, from rotation protocols to uncertainty scoring, and actionable steps to evaluate vendors before contracts are signed. In a regulatory landscape that moves faster than ever, gain the tools to stay compliant, defend your processes, and reduce liability while maintaining operational effectiveness.
Get clear, practical answers to Medicare’s most confusing regulations. Join Dr. Ronald Hirsch as he breaks down real-world compliance challenges and shares guidance your team can apply right away.
Federal auditors are zeroing in on Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) and hospital rehab unit services, with OIG and CERT audits leading to millions in penalties—often due to documentation and administrative errors, not quality of care. Join compliance expert Michael Calahan, PA, MBA, to learn the five clinical “pillars” of IRF-PPS admissions, key documentation requirements, and real-life case lessons to help protect your revenue.
Prepare for the 2025 CMS IPPS Final Rule with ICD10monitor’s IPPSPalooza! Click HERE to learn more
Get 15% OFF on all educational webcasts at ICD10monitor with code JULYFOURTH24 until July 4, 2024—start learning today!
CYBER WEEK IS HERE! Don’t miss your chance to get 20% off now until Dec. 1 with code CYBER25
CYBER WEEK IS HERE! Don’t miss your chance to get 20% off now until Dec. 2 with code CYBER24
