Note from the ACDIS Editor: Learn all about denials management from fellow members in the CDI Journal

by Jess Fluegel

According to the 2023 CDI Week Industry Survey, more than half of CDI professionals are currently involved with the denials management or appeals process. Plus, most respondents reported dealing with the same “problem diagnoses” when asked to list their top denied conditions (the top five, in order: sepsis, respiratory failure, malnutrition, encephalopathy, and kidney disease). Luckily, CDI professionals are always willing to lend a hand to a peer through networking and sharing of their expertise, and that’s exactly what the September/October edition of the CDI Journal is all about.

While we encourage ACDIS members to network one-on-one through a number of avenues—local chapters and networking groups, the CDI Leadership Council, in-person networking at the annual ACDIS conference, etc.—the Journal is one of the primary ways you can learn from fellow members on a regular basis. We hope this edition will be a helpful companion as you make your way along the denials management path!

In this edition, readers will find articles about:

• The basics on appeal writing
• The art of writing an effective appeal letter
• Why it’s time to worry about denials
• The anatomy of a clinical validation appeal
• CDI-related denials, tracking, and tools for appeals
• Promoting authenticity in a team environment
• Medical necessity denials management
• Nutrition assessment documentation
• Clinical validation, committees, and criteria
• Maternal mortality and morbidity
• The role of documentation in revenue cycle performance
• A sneak peek into this year’s CDI Week festivities

This edition also includes our regular Meet a Member feature to offer advice directly from a CDI professional in the ACDIS community.

The ACDIS team hopes you enjoy this latest edition and find something helpful in its pages. As always, the CDI Journal is a benefit of ACDIS membership. To learn more about joining ACDIS, click here. ACDIS members can earn one CCDS/CCDS-O CEU for reading each edition of the Journal and taking the associated quiz. You can learn more on the full edition download page.

We hope you enjoy this edition as much as we did putting it together! As always, please reach out to me if you have any questions or are interested in writing for our next Journal edition.

Editor’s note: Fluegel is an editor for ACDIS. Contact her at jfluegel@acdis.org.