CDI Journal - Volume 7, Issue 1

Volunteers step forward to chapter leadership positions

February 16, 2013
Education

Local chapter volunteers step forward to host and plan events, maintain membership contact information, apply for continuing education credits, research speakers and assess the educational importance of potential presentations. Furthermore, they nurture and mentor their local chapter networking...Read More »
CDI Blog - Volume 6, Issue 49

Q&A: Identifying etiology/manifestation vs. complication connections

December 18, 2013
Ask ACDIS, Clinical & Coding

Q: We recently had a case where the patient was admitted for “sepsis secondary to a urinary infection (UTI) with chronic Foley.”  I am wondering if there is a AHA Coding Clinic for ICD-9-CM  to support coding this case to 996.64, Infection and...Read More »
CDI Blog - Volume 6, Issue 48

Looking to become a CDI specialist? Six tips to make the career transition

December 12, 2013
ACDIS Guidance, Education

As some of you may know, ACDIS is working on a CDI staff training manual. The book (due to publish prior to the 2014 conference) will help program managers train their new staff on CDI basics.

But what should those individuals who are thinking about making the leap from either the nursing...Read More »
CDI Blog - Volume 6, Issue 47

Q&A: Query for ‘tremors’ related to alcoholism for additional specificity

December 4, 2013
Ask ACDIS, Physician Queries

Q: An intoxicated patient comes into the emergency department with a history of alcoholism and the physician prescribes precautions for withdrawal and documents “tremors.” Can we assume that the physician means “delerium tremors” or “DTs”?

A: No, tremors...Read More »
CDI Blog - Volume 6, Issue 46

Q&A: Clearing up confusion about incoorporating consultants’ reports

November 13, 2013
Ask ACDIS, Physician Queries

Q: I’ve been confused recently regarding coding from the pathology or radiology reports for specificity. It seems that in recent years, (I’ve been coding for 25years) a new interpretation of the coding guidelines has come about. I was taught that as long as a physician with direct...Read More »
CDI Blog - Volume 6, Issue 45

Note from the Associate Editorial Director: Funny responses to physician queries

November 12, 2013
ACDIS Guidance, Physician Queries

We all have those tough days to be sure. Some days are tougher than others. But when a physician writes, “Duh! It’s a no brainer!” in response to a query you’ve just asked, it can be a little tough to take. Thankfully, CDI professionals have a committed network of their peers by way of the ...Read More »
CDI Blog - Volume 6, Issue 44

Review MS-DRG documentation to prepare for Recovery Auditors

November 11, 2013
Quality & Regulatory

By Christina Benjamin, MA, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P

Connolly Healthcare, the Recovery Auditor (RA) for Region C, continues to focus on complex inpatient reviews of a long list of MS-DRGs. Regardless of whether this is your hospital’s RA, you need to ensure that your records reflect the...Read More »
CDI Blog - Volume 6, Issue 43

Tips for revising physician queries

October 21, 2013
Physician Queries

Consider these steps when approaching the oftentimes daunting task of revising queries:

Step one: Inventory all queries. “You may find that some [queries] are no longer relevant, or some are so poorly written that you wouldn’t want to be using them in the first place,”...Read More »

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