ACDIS Council Report: Optimized Comprehensive CDI Programs

Years of growth have allowed CDI programs to put down deep roots and establish themselves as an indispensable part of an organization’s overall health. That maturity, however, does not mean CDI programs can rest on their laurels and become stagnant. Many professionals are drawn to CDI as a career because of its constant room for learning. But all those opportunities can make it difficult to determine when a program has truly optimized its processes and reach. One of the roles of a CDI leader is to monitor the success of their program and present its status to organizational leadership. Without an understanding of the goal, they cannot effectively show the program’s impact.

In partnership with 3M, the Association of Clinical Documentation Integrity Specialists (ACDIS) CDI Leadership Council asked several of its members to evaluate the results of a nationwide survey detailing the current state of CDI mission statements, metrics used internally to CDI departments and externally with organizational stakeholders, the expansion of reviews, productivity standards, and what it means to have an “optimized” CDI program. In this industry report, readers get a full inside look at the ways leaders see optimized comprehensive CDI programs and what it means to have a comprehensive approach to CDI.

Key takeaways:

• According to survey respondents, just under 33% have a mission statement specifically for their CDI department. Most of those who left comments on the survey described mission statements that focus on the overall integrity of the medical record and how it impacts reimbursement, quality measure outcomes, patient care, and the health of the organization.
• According to 35.06% of respondents, their productivity standards have increased in the last five years, while 33.07% said they have remained the same. Just under 24% said they have decreased productivity standards due to increasingly complex review types and other responsibilities.
• For three-quarters of the survey respondents, having an optimized CDI program means the program is fully staffed and able to reach target chart review percentages, followed by 73.31% who said it means physicians are engaged and the CDI education “sticks” and 66.93% who said it means they have the latest technology to increase their reach and efficiency.