Healthcare providers need to dedicate resources to increasing case-mix index, improving discharge disposition code accuracy, reducing readmission denials, and improving quality measures to reduce penalties, according to a report by HealthLeaders Media sponsored by Enjoin.Read More »
Despite CDI programs’ 10-plus years of existence, physician engagement continually ranks as the number one concern for CDI departments, according to the 2017 ACDIS Membership Survey. Part of this challenge may stem from the fact that, although some methods work better than others, physicians are...Read More »
Q: If a complication was unavoidable, and has been documented as such, is that good enough reason to not code it? We wouldn’t mark a code as a patient safety indicator if it was an inherent part of the procedure, so would the same hold true for unavoidable complications?...Read More »
by Trey La Charité, MD, FACP, SFHM, CCS, CCDS
In the past, I have advised CDI professionals against promoting the monetary benefits of CDI adoption. If the medical staff thinks the program’s purpose is hospital revenue, they will likely rebel. Working in an academic institution, I...Read More »
by Lisa Dias, MD, and P. Roger DeVersa, MD, MBA, FHM, CPE, CDIP, CHDA, CCS
Residency training typically serves as physicians’ first exposure to the CDI process, yet physicians have historically not had robust education during medical school on CDI or how it benefits patient care....Read More »
“When I first started getting interested in the topic of CDI, […] I asked my more senior colleagues and got blank stares,” says Joseph A. Cristiano, MD, an assistant professor of internal medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Without the...Read More »
by Sharme Brodie, RN, CCDS
One thing many new CDI specialists hear—and many experienced CDI specialists attest to—is that the CDI profession requires an incredible amount of knowledge in numerous areas, not all of which you may have experience in. One such area may be neurology....Read More »
Amy S. Sterner, CCS, CCDS, CDIP, is a Clinical Documentation Specialist at Hanover Hospital in Hanover PA, and a member of the Central PA ACDIS local chapter. She joined the Hanover CDI team as a certified coder when the program opened seven years ago, rounds on the units and...Read More »
