A first year for the record books: Catching up with Wellstar’s new Executive Director of CDI

Few CDI professionals are rising as fast as Faisal Hussain, Executive Director of CDI at Wellstar Health System in Georgia. Fewer still have come as far as he has, both literally and figuratively. A foreign medical graduate and native of Pakistan, Hussain has risen up through the ranks in a remarkable career in healthcare. In his current role he is responsible for overseeing the CDI strategy and operations for the entire Wellstar health system, comprised of nine hospitals and more than 300 medical offices, as well as cancer centers, rehabilitation centers, hospice facilities, and urgent care locations. It’s a huge task and he recently completed a firehose of a first year with the organization. But in case that didn’t keep him busy enough, Hussain this year also ran for and was elected to the ACDIS advisory board, in addition to serving as a member of the ACDIS leadership council and the ACDIS regulatory committee. And he’s done it all with kindness and humility while raising a young family. On this show we cover: • A day in the life of Faisal Hussain, Executive Director of CDI • WellStar’s CDI strategy and metrics for success, including a focus on chart touches that matter and a proactive rather than reactive approach to chart review • Recent wins (build and pilot of a promising homegrown EHR documentation tool) and struggles as a new leader and new(ish) dad seeking better work-life balance • An unlikely and winding path from graduate of Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan, to MD, and finally to CDI • Winning the organizational Diversity in CDI award at the 2023 ACDIS conference, and his own prior experience with discrimination • His favorite classic pop or rock song (because, it’s Off the Record, duh). I refused to bend on “Baby Shark.”