"I like unique. Tell me something I don't know." Meet Tracy Boldt, director of CDI and UM at Essentia Health

“I like unique. Tell me something I don’t know.” That certainly describes this week’s guest. Tracy Boldt is the Director of CDI and Utilization Management at Essentia Health in Minnesota. Since September 2016 Boldt’s role has included providing leadership, direction and support in the development and management of CDI and UM at multiple Essentia Health sites. In this role Boldt collaborates closely with the utilization team, physician partners, and coding manager system wide. Recently she helped implement a successful outpatient clinical documentation improvement program with an emphasis on Accountable Care Organization (ACO) partnership, risk adjustment, and population health. Tracy’s path into healthcare did not follow a straight line. Admittedly she was not the most dedicated student. She started as a hairdresser before she got (mostly) serious, and healthcare became a calling. We review Tracy’s career stops in nursing, CDI, a detour into consulting (for a firm, and then launching her own personal company), and her current entry into Essentia. Tracy also has a rich personal life. I’ll go ahead and plug Cedar Point Resort and Campground, not only because I’m hoping I can parlay some free advertising into a discounted cabin, but it’s also an incredibly interesting chapter in her life that has broader applicability to effective project management and staff leadership. If you want to learn how to succeed in a challenging role, listen to people that struggled and overcame adversity. And then, having succeeded, have refused to settle, but continue to seek out new ways to create impact. That certainly describes Tracy. Oh, and we discuss KISS. Everyone’s favorite face-painted 70s rockers. Talk about unique. Enjoy!