Tool: Body Mass Index documentation reminder flyer
November 11, 2010
CDI Strategies - Volume 4, Issue 23
CDI specialists need to use all the tools available in their documentation training box to effectively change physician behavior. Educational sessions are helpful, particularly when followed by effective queries targeting the same educational issue. Combine this approach with e-mail newsletters offering documentation tips and posters or simple flyers which reinforce documentation specificity for 360-degree training.
That’s what Jennifer Love, RN, BA, CCDS, manager of clinical documentation specialists at Novant Health in North Carolina, aims to do with the collection of flyers her team created regarding congestive heart failure, pneumonia, malnutrition, and Body Mass Index (BMI).
The BMI flyer, for example, reminds physicians that a BMI greater than 40 constitutes morbid obesity. It further reminds a physician that in order for morbid obesity to qualify as a secondary diagnosis, the BMI must have some bearing on the care provided. The flyer asks physicians to consider if the patient required additional care, treatment, procedures, or time in the hospital due to their morbid obesity, and if so to consider documenting it in the patient record.
Editor’s note: ACDIS members can download the flyer from the Forms & Tools Library.