Radio Recap: New resources for secondary diagnoses, cardiology available

Community is a huge component of ACDIS. Part of what it means to be in community is sharing resources with others—something that’s always been a hallmark of the ACDIS membership experience. This past week, following the July 12 episode of ACDIS Radio, guest Deborah Dallen, BSN, RN, CCDS, clinical documentation manager for the Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia/Montgomery County, shared some resources for the broader ACDIS family.

The ACDIS Radio episode focused on running a CDI program without a massive budget. While fancy electronic health record software, consultants, and the like are real possibilities for larger programs, new CDI programs or those at less-well funded facilities have to get creative.

“Budgets are tight. Even if you’re administration is supportive, it’s hard to come up with the money,” said Dallen on the program.

One way both Dallen and guest Martin Conroy, RHIA, director of CDI for Temple University Health System in Philadelphia, make the most with what they have is through home-grown tip cards.

“We try to reach out to the physicians with just simple things that show we’re attuned to their specialties,” said Conroy.

While tip cards are just a component of Dallen’s CDI efforts, they are a valuable one, she said. They allow the CDI team to further their educational efforts with the providers without holding more formal educational sessions that eat up time and resources.

The first tip card donated by Dallen is for cardiology/CT surgery. On the tip card, you’ll find a neat table listing all the common CCs/MCCs for cardiology and CT surgery. The card is small—less than half a sheet of regular paper—so it’s an easy tool to keep at your fingertips throughout the day.

The second tip card is for secondary diagnoses affecting severity of illness (SOI)/risk of mortality (ROM) scores. Like the first reference, this simple tool is smaller than a piece of paper and it lists the most common secondary diagnoses which affect a patient’s SOI/ROM scores.

Even if the well is dry for CDI funding and resources, CDI specialists can lean on the help of others in the community. That’s ultimately why Dallen and Conroy gave their time to be on ACDIS Radio: to share their experiences and knowledge as others navigate the same waters.

Editor’s note: To learn more about contributing to the ACDIS Resource library, click here. To listen to the July 12 episode of ACDIS Radio, click here.