Q: I recently took over a pre-existing, three-year-old program as its department manager and find myself in the unfavorable position of having to re-educate the CDI staff. It seems they were never trained on basic CDI principles such as querying for the etiology of the symptom(s...Read More »
Sheila Duhon, MBA, RN, CCDS, A-CCRN, is the national director clinical documentation improvement educator, performance management and innovation division for Tenet Healthcare Corporation. She’s been involved in CDI since 2006, and finding the position offered a career in which...Read More »
The AHA wrapped up its Coding Clinic for ICD-10-CM/PCS advice for 2014 by answering a lot of questions regarding the coding of surgical procedures/ interventions—a trend we’ve seen over the last several issues of the publication. Let’s take a look at...Read More »
The quarterly CDI Journal offers CE credits towards the ACDIS CCDS certification. To obtain your CCDS continuing education credits, you must successfully complete the online continuing education quiz. Please note: The expiration date for this activity is January 1, 2016.You...Read More »
Another tradition in my household is to take some time around the dinner table on New Year’s day to talk about some of the things we’re grateful for that happened to us in the year that passed. Such reminisces often raise interesting thoughts. All together as...Read More »
Over the past year, we’ve been asked numerous times about what it means to be an “advanced” CDI program. No forward-looking CDI program can truly advance unless (and until) a solid base is set—until it looks back over its program basics to ensure that its staff remains wellversed in query...Read More »
A 12-year-old male developed umbilical discomfort Monday and didn't eat much dinner. On Tuesday, he started vomiting at school and the pain shifted to his right lower quadrant. His parents brought him to the ED, where his vital signs showed:
