Q: Would anyone be willing to share how their CDI departments are reviewing for sepsis? A while back, my hospital administration went to contracts and requested that I follow up with physicians and staff and start reviewing all commercial insurance and managed Medicare accounts with...Read More »
Q: If documentation states, “probable HIV disease,” is that definitive enough to code?
A: In the instance of HIV, the terms “possible,” “probable,” “likely,” and “suspected” would not apply. Per The Official Guidelines for Coding...Read More »
Q: A question came up recently regarding coding obesity when it is only documented or listed as “a history of obesity.” This seems like it should be a simple concept, but we have heard varying opinions. Some subscribe to the idea that “a history of" could be resolved, so we should...Read More »
Q: I am working on streamlining our templates and would love to include the standard definitions of certain diagnoses, such as malnutrition, to help remind the providers of certain criteria within the body of the template. For instance, I would like to include the Global Leadership...Read More »
Q: We have seen conflicting information on the upper limit temperature threshold for sepsis with some information suggesting greater than 38°C (>38°C) and some stating 38.3...Read More »
Q: Our team had a question regarding the criteria for chronic respiratory failure. The ACDIS Pocket Guide states the criteria “typically requires continuous oxygen support,” so do patients just need to be on continuous oxygen to meet it?
Q: When we open sensitivity reports, there are all sorts of antibiotic resistances with organisms, some cultures have one “resistant” listed while others have multiple. Do you have any guidance as to when we should query for the resistance? If a patient with a positive culture (wound...Read More »
Q: If a provider answers “yes” or “no” to a yes/no query on the actual query template, does the provider also need to document their diagnosis in a note? If the query is part of the permanent medical record, does that answer on the query template suffice and eliminate the need for...Read More »