We are trying to reduce the number of queries to providers at our hospital because we know they are overwhelmed. The CDI staff is only sending queries if there is a change in DRG, SOI/ROM, or if the diagnosis is listed in the2020 ACDIS...Read More »
Q: We are seeing an influx of possible COVID-19 patients at our facility. How can we prepare to query for COVID-19-related documentation and coding issues that are bound to come our way due to the newness of the diagnosis?Read More »
Q: Recently, we’ve seen a few situations in which respiratory failure was present on admission (POA), but then later in the stay, the patient’s condition progresses to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or the physician determines that it is ARDS. In these situations, our coding team is...Read More »
Q: We’re having some trouble with malnutrition documentation. In many instances, the patient meets the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) criteria and the provider agrees with the query, but then doesn’t expand on the diagnosis in their documentation. We’re then...Read More »
I’ve always thought that, as long as the clinical indicators support the condition you’re querying for, providing all the options for the specific type/specificity of that condition allows the provider to use their clinical judgement. Is this correct?Read More »
If a patient is admitted with both gram-negative pneumonia and acute respiratory failure, which should be sequenced as the principal diagnosis?Read More »
Dawn Valdez RN, LNC, CCDS, CDIP, joined the ACDIS team officially at the beginning of 2020, as a full-time CDI education specialist. Since then, she’s been busy getting up to speed, hitting the road with Education Director Laurie Prescott, RN, MSN, CCDS, CCDS-O, CDIP, CRC, and...Read More »
