Note from the Associate Editorial Director: Making the case for CDI-free weekends

by Melissa Varnavas

CDI-free weekend doesn’t mean you should close your laptop and go play. Of course you should be reading the latest ACDIS Blog post! I’m teasing of course. I remember asking in one early blog post how CDI professionals relax on the weekends. Turns out, many of you continue to search out documentation defects even on Saturdays and Sundays.

When the issue came up in a recent chat on CDI Talk, I decided to ask one of our board members about the benefit of assigning a clinical documentation specialist to check the weekend charts.

“There’s not a huge movement to conduct records reviews and physician queries on the weekends,” says ACDIS Board Member, Lynne Spryszak, RN, CPC-A, a consultant with FTI Healthcare.

The reason’s tri-fold:

1. Most query opportunities don’t come from short stay admissions. Such cases are relatively clear cut, easily documented, and easily coded, she says. If the patient required acute care he/she would likely remain in the hospital through Monday. At that time, a CDI specialist could review the record and query the physician regarding any concerns potentially raised on Saturday or Sunday.

2. Facilities should assess the percentage of overall reviews which come from weekend cases. Generally, the ratio hovers somewhere in the 5% percent range, says Spryszak. While 100% review of the medical record is something to strive for, spending too many resources for limited return on investment could end up negatively affecting the overall CDI program.

3. Querying physicians represents the bulk of a clinical documentation improvement professional’s job. Many physicians are not available during the weekend hours or, at best, are simply difficult to get a hold of.

Ultimately, says Spryszak, each facility needs to assess their program needs and make a decision regrading when and how to staff their CDI program but maybe there’s a case to be made for giving up the weekends for a little CDI R&R.

Ah...spring gardening...here I come!

Editor's note: Varnavas is the associate editorial director of ACDIS. Contact her at mvarnavas@acdis.org.