Q&A: Competency

Q: Does anyone require an annual CDI competency and, if so, do you mind sharing suggestions?

Response #1: Our CDI competency form has several sections with space for employee self-assessments, competency statements, verification methods (primarily audits), dates, whether the staff member passed or received additional training, and space for the reviewer/verifier to sign off.

Section 1 is the “competency verification” and includes the following competency statements:

• Demonstrates proficiency in completing an adequate review worksheet
• Demonstrates a compliant and necessary query

Section 2 is the “training record,” which is used if the competency is not met. Finally, section 3 is the “record of re-verification,” which goes through the same competencies as were included in section 1 to ensure the staff member has improved following training and now meets the required competencies.

Response #2: We do a yearly query assessment reviewing 30 randomly selected queries for all of our CDI staff. For our clinical validation auditors who review mortalities and patient safety indicators, we do a yearly query assessment and audit reviewed cases for process workflow and accuracy.

Response #3: We have our teams complete an annual competency assessment through PROPELCDI. It is very standardized.

Response #4: Our health system performs a yearly competency each October along with the fiscal year updates. Our questions mostly focus on core CDI topics and workflows. We perform the competency through Microsoft Forms.

Editor’s note: This question was previously answered by members of the ACDIS CDI Leadership Council, and originally appeared in the CDI Leadership Insider, the exclusive eNewsletter for members of the ACDIS CDI Leadership Council. For the purposes of this article, all Council member answers have been deidentified.