Note from the Associate Editorial Director: Setting the outpatient CDI table
The stew’s been simmering in the pot for a while now. All the separate ingredients are melding and the overwhelming aroma in the room is enticing. The stew is outpatient CDI. Its ingredients are multitudinous, varied.
- Pinch of evaluation and management (E/M) coding
- Few cups of hierarchical condition category (HCC) groupings
- Sampling of risk adjustment methodology
- An awareness of current procedural terminology (CPT) codes
- Knowledge of ICD-10-CM/PCS Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting
- Several specks of physician practice business savvy
And that’s not a comprehensive list of ingredients by any stretch of the imagination. Each cook in this CDI kitchen (just as in the inpatient world) follows its own recipe—drawing from its unique set of programmatic goals and overarching system mission and focus.
Yet, we have a basic recipe to follow thanks to those taste-testing the mixture over the past few years and sharing their samplings with rest of the CDI community. Now all we need to do is set the table and invite others to join us.
The ACDIS Symposium: Outpatient CDI invites you to the feast. Hope to see you there.
Editor’s note: Varnavas is the Associate Editorial Director for ACDIS and has worked with its parent company for nearly 12 years. Contact her at mvarnavas@acdis.org.