Q&A: Daily CDI huddles
Q: Are daily CDI huddles useful? If so, what topics should they focus on?
A: Regular meetings where CDI specialists can collaborate are useful to ensure the whole team has the same awareness of policies, practices, and any areas for concern. However, the frequency does not necessarily have to be so often as daily.
“We originally started a daily CDI huddle mainly to discuss assignments and any new information that the staff needed to be aware of that couldn’t wait until the monthly staff meeting, but it has become more or less on an as needed basis,” says Karen Frosch, CCs, CCDS, CRC, CPHQ, a CDI project manager at Christiana Care Health System in Newark, Delaware.
“We tried daily huddles, with a performance board and all,” adds Madhu Subherwal, MHA, MBBS, CCDS, CDIP, CDI manager at Torrance (California) Memorial Medical Center. “However, there was minimal value besides tracking the number of pending queries, and who was going to be out of office.”
Linda Burr, RN, BSN, CCDS, director of CDI at MemorialCare Health System in Florida, agrees.
"We have weekly CDI/coding huddles,” she says. “These are with the managers and coordinators of both departments and we discuss any discrepancies or issues that arouse over the past week that may need leadership’s guidance or input."
While Burr’s team does weekly huddles of the combined CDI and coding team, Subherwal saves these joint meetings for once a month and keeps the weekly huddles for just the CDI team.
“For the weekly huddles, we discuss what the is focus for the week if any physician education is scheduled, and I update them about any policy changes, or any updates from the industry,” says Subherwal. “It also gives the CDI team an opportunity to discuss any issues they are having such as a nonresponsive physician, workflow issues, etc.”
“At times the prep by the CDI staff can be time consuming because most of the charts are discharged patients and the CDI specialist has to review the chart so they can be prepared to discuss it,” says Frosch. “But both teams do like the interaction and it provides a good opportunity for both teams to learn.”
Editor’s note: Members of the ACDIS Leadership Council answered this question. If you have questions you’d like to pose to one of ACDIS volunteer boards, committees, or networking groups, contact ACDIS Editor Linnea Archibald (larchibald@acdis.org), or post it to the ACDIS Forum.