I’ve heard that the geometric length of stay (GMLOS) is always rounded to the nearest whole number as inpatient claims are paid by day. Based on my understanding of the inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS), I thought that each inpatient stay is paid by a fixed amount, regardless of the...Read More »
We recently had a patient admitted with severe acute meningitis causing respiratory decompensation. A diagnostic lumbar puncture and mechanical ventilation were both performed during the inpatient stay. Which of the two procedures would be the principal procedure, diagnostic lumbar puncture or...Read More »
My physicians use the term “bacteremia” frequently and are treating it. The patient may be febrile and receiving antibiotics, but they cannot figure out a source. What should they be calling it? Or, better yet, what query should I be sending?Read More »
We’re having a lot of discussions lately on whether we should query for pressure injuries when they’re only documented by nursing. Our wound care nurses determined that staff nurses identify pressure injuries correctly only 60% of the time. If we’re querying based on nursing documentation, our...Read More »
I recently listened to a webinar where treatment was emphasized especially for diagnoses such as sepsis, acute respiratory failure, and severe protein calorie malnutrition. How much emphasis should CDI professionals put on treatment?
For example, can we count treatment from a dietician’s...Read More »
Our providers tend to use the term “RDS” in their documentation to describe all “respiratory distress,” “respiratory distress syndrome of newborn,” and “acute respiratory failure.” Often, we find ourselves querying to clarify/remove RDS when it is in fact respiratory distress and not respiratory...Read More »
According to our software vendor, you can only code liver lacerations as minor, moderate, or major. According to all the educational materials I can find, however, liver lacerations are on a grading scale (grades 1-5). How does your institution code the liver laceration if they only give...Read More »