News: ACDIS 2017 physician query benchmarking survey sheds light on CDI trends

It’s been nearly four years since ACDIS published its last survey regarding query practices. On Tuesday, May 23, ACDIS published the 2017 physician query benchmarking survey report, unpacking the details of the 361 survey respondent answers.

Physician response rates rose significantly since 2013 with more CDI professionals reporting a 96-98% response this time around. Yet, other query areas showed stagnation and even backpedaling.

For example, the number of those reviewing records for financial impact increased nearly 18%—from 20.8% in to 37.89% in 2017. And the percentage of those reviewing for any documentation clarification went down from 67.37% in 2013 to 51.93% in 2017.

The fact that so many CDI professionals seem to be “reviewing for primarily reimbursement is really going to put the industry behind the curve of value-based purchasing. We’re supposed to be looking at the bigger picture,” says Mark Dominesey, MBA, RN, CCDS, CDIP, CHTS-CP, the manager of excellence in clinical documentation at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Some respondents even still include pre- and post-query DRG information (2.27%) and DRG relative weights (1.42%) in their query templates.

“It shocks me that some respondents include the relative weights. They’re asking to get themselves in trouble. Just wait till the recovery auditors get a hold of that,” says Sheila Duhon, MBA, RN, CCDS, A-CCRN, the national director for CDI education at Tenet Healthcare in Spring, Texas.

Encouragingly, 67.04% of respondents reported adherence to the ACDIS/AHIMA query practice guidance (up from 59.35% in 2013).

Editor’s note: To read the survey in its entirety, click here.