Her Story
About Cynthia
Cynthia Chase serves as an inpatient auditor in the field of Health Information Management. She earned her associate degree from Moraine Park Technical College in West Bend, Wisconsin, in 1989 and has since built a career focused on clinical documentation improvement, auditing, DRG review, and clinical validation. Chase holds the CCDS, Certified Coding Specialist, and RHIT credentials and maintains active memberships in AHIMA and ACDIS. Her professional journey includes traveling to various hospitals across the United States, which has contributed to her well-seasoned perspective in the industry. She attributes her success to inspiring figures like Ruthanne Russo and the diverse experiences gained from working with different organizations and cultures. Chase values being respected, part of a team, and facing challenges in her work, while advising others to be selective about employers and to focus on their strongest specialties.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Cynthia
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say maybe there's probably other people in my field, you know, like I mentioned, Ruthanne Russo inspired me, but just, how would you say it? Like, traveling to many different hospitals and cultures. People at those organizations or the companies I worked for who had knowledge to inspire me. So well-seasoned with what you do.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Be selective about your next employer. Try to lean into my strongest specialty, you know, like, with DRG review and CDI coding and clinical validation. I focus on my job. And, like, my clinical and coding knowledge is an advantage. I don't let one job define my values.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
That it's a great field, and there's many opportunities available. Although starting out in the field, I was actually a single mom, newly divorced, and then I went to the associate degree. So, it was rough for me. But I started out making $7 an hour in the field. The more experience I got, the more my salary went up. So just hang in there.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
A lot of the challenges right now, clinical documentation and even, DRG auditing is the third-party payers. They'll deny a lot of stuff and say it's not clinically significant, and they don't want to pay for the care. There's not a lot of companies now that hire long-term, either. Like, they're always contract positions. Finding more of a long-term employer that values their employees and respects them.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I would say being respected, and being part of a team, being challenged. Job security's good, too.
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