About 41% of CDI programs currently review medical records for quality improvement items, according to an online ACDIS membership poll. Although CMS implemented the VBP reimbursement model as required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2011, many CDI programs have only recently started...Read More »
Mortality reviews are becoming more prevalent in the CDI world. But what do they really mean for CDI specialists? Some organizations have mortality review committees, but such reviews don’t always fall under CDI; they could be managed by the quality...Read More »
Septic patients can quickly deteriorate into severe sepsis cases if left unattended. “Once they have organ failure, it’s really hard to get those patients back,” Connie Chappelle, RN, MC, CLNC, risk management coordinator for Kansas University Medical Center (KUMC) in Kansas...Read More »
Penny Souder, RN, MS, CPC, works at Maui Memorial Medical Center in beautiful Hawaii. She joined the CDI team a year and a half ago, at the department’s inception. She belongs to the local ACDIS chapter, which is based on Oahu (a different island), so this presents her with a...Read More »
In its 2013 position paper, “Electronic Health Records and the Role of the CDI Specialist,” members of the ACDIS Advisory Board addressed several concerns related to challenges and opportunities emerging with the advent of electronic systems. Among them were how to handle copy-and-paste concerns...Read More »
The new year always represents a time to reflect on successes of the past and opportunities for the future. This year, according to the ancient Chinese calendar, is the year of the fire rooster, whose attributes include trustworthiness and a strong sense of timekeeping and responsibility at work...Read More »
I am not the first CDI consultant to recognize some essential changes needed in the current CDI program structure. I have had the privilege of being an active part of CDI evolution since 2010. Since that time, my understanding of CDI has...Read More »
CDI specialists can pretty much come from any background in the medical field—from physicians, to nurses, to coders, and everything in between. While CDI specialists generally have the same day-to-day workflow (reviewing charts and sending queries), a specialist’s background prior to coming to...Read More »
