The American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) is the world’s largest training and credentialing organization for the business of healthcare, with more than 190,000 members worldwide who work in medical coding, medical billing, clinical documentation improvement, medical auditing, healthcare compliance, revenue cycle management, and practice management.

Each year the AAPC runs a national conference called HealthCon, this year it took place virtually April 5 – 8. The conference attracts over 7,500 medical professionals including medical coders, billers, practice managers, payers, attorneys, and physicians. HealthCon features sessions covering various specialties including medical coding, audit/compliance, billing, practice management, and legal trends and issues.

Dawn Cook presented on April 6, her session was titled ‘Testifying as an Expert in Medical Coding, Billing or Auditing’. Topics covered included: how to present yourself as an expert with the right resume/CV, how to let attorneys know you are available, how to review records and write an affidavit or an expert report. Dawn also covered techniques for giving sworn testimony for deposition and trial.

Dawn Cook is a licensed Registered Nurse (RN) who has worked with serious and catastrophic illness and injury for over 30 years including clinical settings and home care. Dawn is an experienced life care planner who holds the certified life care planner (CLCP) and certified nurse life care planner (CNLCP) designations.

Dawn has completed over 650 medical damage reports in 28 states in life care planning and has testified as an expert witness at deposition or trial over 80 times since 2012. Dawn enjoys working both plaintiff and defense cases; from complex birth or brain injuries to trucking and motor vehicle accidents, each case requires attention to detail and consistent methodology.