Radio Recap: CDI technology
from July 18, click here.
“When we look back even five to 10 years ago, CDI tools were really just seen as an extension of whatever coding was using or maybe just spreadsheets,” said Aaron Brauser, vice president of CDI solutions at M*Modal the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area, on the July 18 episode of ACDIS Radio.
Many CDI professionals remember those days well—the days of paper charts and colored paper queries (members can still find a “purple query” or two in the resources section of the website)—but the landscape has changed drastically. Now, many CDI programs that can afford it employ CDI-specific software that integrates with EHR and coding software, but is focused on the unique needs and goals of CDI departments.
A good CDI tool, according to Brauser, should allow CDI specialists “to be really critical and help them accomplish their job versus being just an add on to another system.”
And, this seems to be a realistic goal given that, according to the poll on the episode, 46% of respondents said they use technology moderately in their day-to-day reviews and 30% said they use it heavily. This is truly remarkable given that five years ago, the 2013 CDI Week Industry Survey showed that 4.5% of respondents working within a completely paper medical record and 50.5% within some type of hybrid universe.
One of the major ways technology has changed CDI professionals’ workflow has to do with query responses and communication with physicians, according to Marisa MacClary, the CEO and founder of Artifact Health in Boulder, Colorado.
“There was this thinking [in the early days of CDI efforts] if a physician answered a query, ‘what great luck! There’s an answer!’” she said on the episode. “There was not the expectation [of obtaining a physician response] that there is today. I think technology has done a lot to increase the sophistication around CDI workflow and therefore heighten the expectation for physicians to engage in the process.”
According to Brauser, the technology has also freed up CDI professionals’ time to focus on the more complex cases by providing clinicians with templates that prompt the basic specificity CDI specialists used to need to query about.
“You’re not chasing down heart failure specificity, you’re looking across the whole patient record,” he said. “In most cases with artificial intelligence, it’s going to take away the administrative tasks you have to do and allow you to use your clinical mind.”
This freedom to focus on more complex cases and issues will protect CDI professionals’ jobs from being replaced by technology—a common fear for some. “I think there’ll always be a need for a person,” said MacClary.
“If anything,” added Brauser, “we’re enhancing the ability for CDI to focus on the quality aspects and focus on the more complex clinical cases.”
Editor’s note: To listen to the complete show from July 18, click here. ACDIS Radio is a free biweekly show. To learn how to register and listen live, click here. To subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, click here. To read ACDIS’ new white paper about choosing a CDI-related vendor, click here.