“When I first started getting interested in the topic of CDI, […] I asked my more senior colleagues and got blank stares,” says Joseph A. Cristiano, MD, an assistant professor of internal medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Without the...Read More »
by Sharme Brodie, RN, CCDS
One thing many new CDI specialists hear—and many experienced CDI specialists attest to—is that the CDI profession requires an incredible amount of knowledge in numerous areas, not all of which you may have experience in. One such area may be neurology....Read More »
Amy S. Sterner, CCS, CCDS, CDIP, is a Clinical Documentation Specialist at Hanover Hospital in Hanover PA, and a member of the Central PA ACDIS local chapter. She joined the Hanover CDI team as a certified coder when the program opened seven years ago, rounds on the units and...Read More »
In 2004, TV talk-show host Oprah Winfrey gave brand-new Pontiacs to every person in her nearly 300-member studio audience. It was a marketing ploy— she’d filled the audience with folks who needed cars. Desperately. The remembered refrain from that episode: “...Read More »
CDI professionals recognize the effect comprehensive CDI programs have on both payment and profiling outcomes in all healthcare settings. As a result, many organizations are forging ahead to apply CDI beyond the walls of the traditional acute care...Read More »
Ochsner began its ambulatory clinical documentation excellence journey in 2004, when Medicare implemented its HCCs. Since HCCs affect patients’ Risk Adjustment Factor scores, and ultimately reimbursement for the care required to treat sicker patients, Ochsner needed to determine the best way to...Read More »
Many programs remain focused on inpatient populations, but branching into the ED provides a good starting point for those venturing into the outpatient arena. Not only does it offer outpatient opportunities, but the documentation from ED encounters directly affects the documentation if (or when...Read More »
