I think we’re all familiar with the Law of Unintended Consequences. That’s the concept that something begun with the best of intentions can wind up going horribly awry. Examples include “New Coke” and anything ending in the word “Kardashian.” (...Read More »
December Douglas, RN, CCDS, is a clinical documentation integrity specialist at Memorial Hermann Hospital, Texas Medical Center, in Houston, Texas.Read More »
Q: I recently was reviewing a chart where the infection control physician stated the patient had sepsis, but the attending listed bacteremia as the diagnosis. I sent a query to clarify which was correct and the attending confirmed bacteremia. On the...Read More »
Autumn Reiter, BSN, RN, CCDS, CDIP, CCS, director of CDI services for TrustHCS, based in Springfield, Missouri, will present “Five Pillars for Building a Successful CDI Program in Emergency Services and Other Outpatient Areas,” on Day 1 of the ACDIS Symposium: Outpatient CDI....Read More »
Follow these steps to keep your verbal interactions brief and to respect not only the physician’s limited time but also his or her knowledge of the patient’s condition.Read More »
By Lori Drodge, RHIT, CCS
Ever find yourself thinking that you have too much work to do to find time to read and digest a recent publication of AHA’s Coding Clinic? If so, your hospital’s severity adjusted data could be suffering. All conditions that meet reportable...Read More »
Most CDI programs start the same way: looking for CCs and MCCs to maximize the DRG for reimbursement purposes. But, as programs matured over the last decade or so, that mission has necessarily changed. Due to the wide variety of program expansion areas, however, one program’s definition of “...Read More »
CDI has a steep learning curve. Sometimes it can take several months, if not longer, to start seeing good documentation reviews from a new CDI specialist. The initial days of being a CDI specialist are almost exclusively task-focused. Before new CDI...Read More »
