Q: Our case-mix index (CMI) seems to be dropping and management is putting pressure on the CDI staff to bring it back up, but I have heard that CDI programs should not be analyzed based on the (CMI) alone. Do you have any tips or advice about how I should track the CMI and how our efforts affect...Read More »
Q: We recently had a case where the patient was admitted from the ED with pneumonia but the attending hospitalist diagnosed acute bronchitis because the chest x-ray did not show infiltrates or any of the verbiage indicating possible pneumonia.
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 »
ACDIS Associate Editorial Director Linnea Archibald sends out “missed connections” emails with questions from Council members on a regular basis. Anyone with experience related to one of the questions was invited to respond and Archibald connected them with the question-asker. In order to share...Read More »
Q: Our CDI program is three years old and our administration still questions our productivity goals. Initially we set benchmarks at 90-95% coverage rate of Medicare/Managed Medicare; 20-25% query rate; 90% response rate and 80% agree rate. Since census varies, we also established goals of...Read More »
Editor’s Note: The following questions were submitted for the ACDIS quarterly conference call of February 14, 2013, and were answered by Donna Wilson, RHIA, CCS, CCDS, Robert Gold, MD, Sylvia Hoffman, RN, CCDS, CCDI, CDIP, and Donald Butler, RN, BSN, of the ACDIS...Read More »
