Note from the Product Coordinator: Fall in love with the 2024 ACDIS Pocket Guide!
by Karla Kozak
While my pumpkins have been out since September 1, the official start of the season is finally here.
When I think of fall, a few things come to mind:
- Pumpkin spice (of course)
- Apple picking (I’m a New England gal through-and-through)
- The ACDIS Pocket Guide
Wait…what?
I’m sure a few of you were nodding along with the first two and then … I lost you, and you scratched your head at number three. But for me, the ACDIS Pocket Guide is just as autumn-like as apple pie.
ACDIS Pocket Guide season, as I like to call it, is truly the first sign that fall is around the corner. Though the book won’t land in your hands until late November, authors Laurie Prescott, RN, MSN, CCDS, CCDS-O, CDIP, CRC, and James Manz, MD, FAAOS, CCDS-O—as well as yours truly—are working hard on it long before then.
For much of August, September, and October, we pore over pages, searching for ways to make the latest edition the best one yet. It’s a team effort: Laurie lives and breathes Coding Clinic summaries and CDI critical thinking tips, Dr. Manz comes up with new and innovative ways to provide CDI education to providers, and I have nightmares about missed deadlines. Although my red pen is still busy and the ink has yet to dry on the final draft, I can say that this edition is truly the best one yet, and, honestly, I couldn’t be prouder.
This year, Laurie and Dr. Manz have added more information on social determinants of health, an area of increasing importance for CDI professionals. They’ve also added a new condition that specifically addresses leukemia. Significant updates—including new Coding Clinic information, coding considerations, CDI critical thinking, and provider tips—have been made to cerebral edema/brain compression, chronic kidney disease, anemia, neoplasms, and more.
And if that’s not enough, the 2024 edition also now includes tables for a new coma scoring system, the Full Outline of Unresponsiveness (FOUR) score, the Modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnea scale, as well as the albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) for assessing kidney function.
Plus, the ACDIS team invited veteran CDI professional, Keisha Downes, MBA-HM, RN, CCDS, CCS, to review the 2024 ACDIS Pocket Guide and further ensure that it provides CDI professionals with information they can count on.
You can pre-order your copy here so that it’s on its way to you as soon as it publishes in November!
Have questions about this year’s edition or recommendations for next year? I want to hear from you, so drop me a line at kkozak@acdis.org!
Editor’s note: Kozak is an editor and product coordinator at ACDIS in Middleton, Massachusetts. Contact her at kkozak@acdis.org.