Bridging the gap between clinical and financial worlds is the goal of CDI and coding, but it’s much easier said than done. One way to reconcile this schism is through data—objective numbers that don’t lie, but can speak to both sides of this seemingly irreconcilable chasm.

Associate Director of Coding and CDI at Yale New Haven Health (YNNH) Leif Laframboise believes in the power of data and uses it to structure the work of the coding and CDI departments under his oversight. But he marries that with a candidness and leadership style I admire, and an inner strength that has allowed him to persevere with a disability that might have ended the career of another.

Leif is not just a data lover but an all-around good dude that I got to know a little bit during my ACDIS days, and I’m pleased to have him on this episode of Off the Record. We discuss:

• An overview of the CDI and coding departments at YNNH

• Broad departmental KPIs, with present on admission as a north star in a sea of competing quality programs

• YNNH’s unique reporting structure to both finance and the chief medical officer, and how that works in practice

• Why and how Leif embraces data—what he looks for, how he uses it to drive improvements, educate providers, and focus his team’s chart reviews

• His thoughts on how CDI and coding must evolve with changing times

• His disability and how he’s worked around it in a visible leadership role

• Our first Foreigner selection on the OTR Spotify playlist (about time)