Note from the ACDIS Editor: CDI Journal provides resources for expansion

by Linnea Archibald

A new year often spells change for CDI programs looking to extend their influence in their organizations. With the rise of health systems over independent hospitals, many CDI teams find themselves reviewing records outside of the traditional acute care inpatient space.

The January/February edition of the CDI Journal seeks to help readers transition into these new areas smoothly and succeed in their efforts.

Within this edition’s pages, readers will learn about launching an outpatient CDI program, preventing physician burnout, reviewing behavioral health records, bringing CDI to the home health space, and developing the skills needed for skilled nursing facility record reviews.

This edition also includes advice from industry experts such as Kay Piper, RHIA, CDIP, CCS, on influencing ICD-10-CM Index and Tabular List changes, and Amy Sanderson, MD, on the clinical nuances of cerebral edema and brain compression.

As always, the Journal also includes our standard staples: Associate Events Director Melissa Varnavas discusses the importance of listening, Boot Camp Instructor Sharme Brodie, RN, CCDS, CCDS-O, unpacks the last Coding Clinic release from 2019, members of the ACDIS Advisory Board share their top tips for tackling physician engagement, and an ACDIS member shares how her career has changed, challenged, and grown over the years.

Additionally, this edition includes a full index of the CDI Journal articles we published in 2019 and advice from yours truly on leveraging the ACDIS Resource Library for your program expansion.

The ACDIS team hopes you’ll enjoy this latest edition and find some helpful information within its pages. The March/April edition will focus on the query process, so if you’d like to contribute, wish to share your CDI journey, or suggest an article idea, please feel free to email me any time.

Editor’s note: Archibald is the editor for ACDIS. Contact her at larchibald@acdis.org.