ACDIS tip: Resources for going remote

Nearly 40% of CDI programs currently have some sort of remote work capability for their staff, according to the 2017 CDI Week Industry Survey. Compared to a 2016 polling question that found that only 35% of respondents had the capacity for remote work, this is a noticeable increase.

What’s more, according to the 2017 CDI Week Industry Survey, those programs that allow for remote work say that their remote employees perform well compared to their on-site staff members:

Though remote work is on the rise and seems to be working well for the majority of people, this doesn’t mean the transition is an easy one.

“Remote isn’t for everybody. You have to look at your team and the qualities needed for success, including independence, creativity, critical thinking, and confidence,” said Lara Faustino, RN, BSN, CCDS, a CDI specialist at Boston Medical Center, in the May/June 2017 edition of the CDI Journal.

Not only does it take a CDI professional with the right personality and skill-set to go remote, but it also takes some considerable planning from an administrative perspective. For example, how many reviews are remote staff expected to complete each day? What equipment are CDI specialists expected to have at their homes? (For some advice on this particular question, see this article in the January/February 2017 edition of the CDI Journal.)

Recently, the newly reformed ACDIS Forms & Tools Library Committee received some submissions of CDI telecommuting policies from the ACDIS membership. The committee has since reviewed and approved these policies and included some suggestions for those adapting them for use at their own facility.

If your program is considering going fully or partially remote, take a look at the following resources to get started:

• “Telecommuting: CDI Policy” from Lee Ann Landon, BSN, CCMC, CCDS, CDI manager at Honor-Health in Scottsdale, Arizona
• “Telecommuting: Policy and Work Agreement” from Bonnie Epps-Long, MSN, RN, the director of CDI at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, Georgia
• “Establishing effective remote CDI takes planning” from the May/June 2017 edition of the CDI Journal
• “Resolutions for making remote CDI efforts effective” from the January/February 2017 edition of the CDI Journal
• “Ask yourself: Could your CDI program work from home?” from the May/June 2015 edition of the CDI Journal

Editor’s note: Looking for more resources? Try entering “remote” in the search bar on the ACDIS website to find all our resources on the subject.