On the surface, defining acute respiratory failure seems to be a relatively straightforward task. However, many providers find it difficult to arrive at this diagnosis without repeated queries from the CDI specialist. The discussion and examples that follow...Read More »
CDI initiatives often focus on inpatient documentation to ensure that the documentation accurately reflects patient severity. Capturing that documentation and specificity will be even more important as ICD-10 preparation and implementation efforts get underway. Yet ICD-10 implementation will...Read More »
It’s been more than 12 years since AHIMA published its first recommendations governing coder-physician interactions. Since “Developing a Physician Query Process,” published in 2001, much in the healthcare industry has changed—and much change is still to come.
There’s so much in the “Guidelines for Achieving a Compliant Query Practice”, brief as the article on p. 1 outlines. And you can read the complete practice brief here, beginning on p. 7. I encourage you to do so.
Who decided what this new brief would cover? It was you, our ACDIS members....Read More »
by Dan Catalano, MD, FACOG
Is hypertension an important diagnosis in childhood? According to Nelson Pediatrics, 19th Edition, there is a less than 1% prevalence of infant and young childhood hypertension. Given this relatively low incidence, should we be concerned about capturing...Read More »
Janet Emanuelson, RN, has been a CDI specialist at Dominican Hospital-Dignity Health in Santa Cruz, Calif., for nearly six years. She joined ACDIS in 2007 and became a member of the California ACDIS Chapter in 2010, helping the ACDIS national administration to better understand networking needs...Read More »
by Wendy Whittington, MD, MMM
Physicians are grappling with understanding what all of the changes in healthcare mean for their patients and themselves, and CDI efforts are part of that equation.
I am privileged to be part of the faculty group that teaches physicians in the...Read More »