Q: I was under the impression that headings on a query form are leading. Can you help me with this? I would use a heading but replace the (example: Acute Renal Failure) with the physician’s wording (ex: Renal insufficiency). Then paint the clinical picture with appropriate choices.Read More »
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 »
A new bill introduced in the House and Senate includes a small, rather buried section that would delay implementation of ICD-10 for another year, to Oct. 1, 2015.
The main focus of the bill is a fix to the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR),...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 »