Book excerpt: Bridging relationships represents core CDI responsibility

By Laurie L. Prescott, RN, MSN, CCDS, CDIP, CRC

[O]ne of the largest portions of the [CDI] job includes building relationships with various facility departments to identify problem areas, brainstorm solutions, and educate coworkers about these concerns. Some people say that all life is about relationships. Some are good. Some are bad. Some are mediocre.

“Negotiating these relationships successfully allows us to manage our own lives, support others in their personal growth, and reasonably enjoy or accept the life we have before us,” wrote James S. Kennedy, MD, CCS, in the introduction of the first edition of The Physician Queries Handbook. 

In fact, the Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting suggests that bridging relationships between physicians and coders is essential to ensuring complete and accurate documentation, code assignment, and reporting of diagnoses and procedures. Failure to adequately foster this relationship frequently proves detrimental. It may lead to disparagement between departments, reductions in physician query response rates, or increased auditor scrutiny.

CDI professionals need to remember that, in healthcare, lives really are at stake—even if it is in terms of understanding coded data or accurately interpreting physician documentation (or lack thereof) in the medical record.

Editor’s note: Prescott is the CDI Education Director at HCPro in Middleton, Massachusetts. Contact her at lprescott@hcpro.com. This excerpt is from The Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialist’s Complete Training Guide. For information regarding CDI Boot Camps, visit www.hcprobootcamps.com/courses/10040/overview.