Tip: Improving CDI-physician relationships

Experts agree that a collaborative healthcare environment leads to better patient outcomes and improved organizational success. Despite this, long-standing tensions between nurses, coders, CDI specialists, and physicians can be difficult to overcome.

Though team training can do a lot of the work, it is up to each individual staff member to take proactive steps in their day-to-day activities. Here are some tips for helping your staff improve their relationships with physicians.

• Show professionalism: Small things like showing up on time and paying attention to detail can help build others’ respect for you in your professional relationships. When something goes wrong, try to avoid negative behavior; don’t be the one to point fingers or show frustration.
• Build effective communication: Presenting information in an organized and concise manner, especially in emergency situations, can go a long way in improving relationships. Some facilities use standardize communication tools to facilitate communication between providers.
• Take the team approach: Approach healthcare situations with a collaborative mindset. Respect everyone’s role in patient care, where everyone is just as responsible for patient outcomes and documentation outcomes as the physician.

Editor’s note: This article was adapted from the original published in the Nurse Leader Insider on June 29, 2017. For more tips and tricks on physician engagement and education, read the July/August issue of the CDI Journal by clicking here.