News: 35% of CDI staff performing tasks outside of record review due to COVID-19

An ACDIS survey of CDI professionals found that almost 35% of CDI staff are being asked to perform duties outside of core record review activities.

Of more than 800 respondents, 35% reported CDI staff were performing other tasks, including helping with call center lines (14.95%), assisting with administering PPE or other equipment (10.05%), and helping to triage patients (9.78%). Most notably, however, more than 16% were being asked to assist with direct patient care.

Respondents also reported that CDI staff were asked to make masks, screen hospital staff and visitors, and audit records for missed COVID-19 diagnosis opportunities.

More than 80% of respondents reported that their CDI team is working completely remotely. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, only 13% of respondents were working remotely.

Additionally, 89% of respondents reported that their patient census has decreased in direct correlation to the pandemic. Of those who noted a decreased patient census, 78% said they were reviewing fewer records, 11% said there was no noticeable impact on the number of record reviews, and 11% said they were reviewing more records.

While 10% of respondents said they are processing claims without waiting, 54% are holding possible/suspected COVOD-19 claims until lab results are available.

As far as organizational cost saving measures due to the pandemic, only 28% noted that their CDI department has not been impacted; another 11% said their department hasn’t been impacted yet but they anticipate it will be in the near future.

Nearly 20% of respondents said that they have furloughed CDI staff, and 3% reported CDI staff layoffs. An additional 16% of respondents reported CDI staff being redeployed to other departments, 12% said they have implemented mandatory unpaid time off, and 17% reported either part time for staff or pay reductions. (To read a CDI Journal article on CDI leaders’ response to the pandemic, click here.)

Outside of furloughs, layoffs, and redeployments, 13% said they have cut education, consulting, and other services. Nearly 65% of respondents, however, reported that the CDI department has offered additional training or professional development since the outbreak. This may be partly due to the decrease in record review numbers as staff and leaders have additional time to devote to education.

Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, physicians routinely reported burnout and fatigue with documentation requirements. With the additional stresses of the pandemic, some organizations have sought ways to limit the additional pressures on physicians’ time. According to the survey, however, 61% of respondents reported that the expectations on physicians (when it comes to query response timelines, documentation requirements, etc.) have remained the same. The 39% who have adjusted their expectations used a variety of tactics:

• Reduced the scope of queries to selected conditions
• Lowered or eliminated expectations for query response times
• Scaled back on physician engagement and education
• Temporarily stopped efforts entirely

The results of this survey will also be the topic of the Thursday, May 21, Quarterly Conference Call. ACDIS members are invited to attend the call and can register by clicking here.

Editor’s note: To read the Journal article about CDI in the time of COVID-19, click here. To download ACDIS’ COVID-19 Survival Toolkit, click here. To read ACDIS’ coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, click here.