Guest Post: Take advantage of opportunities for personal growth

by Glenn Krauss, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPUR, C-CDI, CCDS

A clinical documentation improvement (CDI) specialists’ focuses on educating physicians on the merits and material benefits of complete, accurate, and effective medical record documentation on the practice of medicine. The CDI specialists’ goal is to affect positive change in physician’s documentation. CDI specialists also help the physician understand and appreciate his/her role in clinical documentation as a proactive and defensive strategy to meet the tough business economic climate challenge of healthcare.

In order to affect positive change and be successful in the role of CDI, the specialist need to view the duties and responsibilities inherent to the position through the eyes of a businessperson. Just as physicians are business people who happen to choose medicine as their line of business, CDI  specialists’ are business people who happen to choose documentation improvement as their line of business.

As a businessperson, the CDI specialists has the responsibility of expanding and continually building upon his/her business skills through personal investment in tools and education as a strategy in becoming more proficient and effective in the business of CDI. It is incumbent upon the CDI  specialist to maintain relevancy in clinical medicine through reading of the medical literature such as JAMA, New England Journal of Medicine, subscribing to Journal Watch publications, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, and other daily newsletters.

Other considerations include subscribing to the Harvard Business Review or Influence without Authority, and investing the time to refresh skills in negotiation and communication through coursework at a local college or adult education class.

A successful and competent CDI specialist will recognize the need for continual education beyond learning the basic CDI crash course taught and promoted by many consulting companies. The likelihood of success of a CDI program rests primarily on the CDI specialist, recognizing the value and worth of proficient business skills as a foundation for the delivery of physician clinical documentation education of long lasting benefit and use to both the institution and the physician.

Quite frankly, there is more to CDI than leaving clinical queries on the record in hopes of the physician answering the query. A CDI specialist can control his/her own destiny through development and honing of business, communication, and negotiation skills.

Let the opportunities begin.

Editor's note: Krauss, at the time of this article's release, was Executive Director of the Foundation for Physician Documentation Integrity.