By Rebecca Hendren

Outpatient CDI is a fast-growing area of the profession. So, I’m excited to announce a new resource that will be an incredibly useful tool for those expanding to the outpatient arena. Richard Pinson, MD, FACP, CCS, and Cynthia Tang, RHIA, CCS, authors of the CDI Pocket Guide, are currently finishing their work on a new version focused on Hierarchical Condition Categories (HCC): the 2018 Outpatient CDI Pocket Guide!

Although new technology inherently brings new challenges, it also has the ability to simplify aspects of the CDI process, according to a white paper from ACDIS in partnership with Nuance, titled “How artificial intelligence is transforming clinical documentation.”

Clinical validation is definitely a hot topic in CDI right now. According to the 2017 CDI Industry Survey (which will be made available during CDI Week), 85.13% of respondents sent at least one to five clinical validation queries in the last month. Yet, only 41.81% have a policy governing these queries. Needless to say, some guidance is warranted.

It’s hard to believe that the 10^th annual ACDIS national conference is already but a mere memory—memories cherished and employed. Nevertheless, planning for the 2018 event is already underway. The call for Conference Committee volunteers went out in July and more than 100 ACDIS members answered the call. The committee consists of more than a dozen individuals from various backgrounds, experience levels, and expertise.

Did you know there are more than 40 ACDIS Local Chapters and networking groups nationwide? And, that number grows on an almost daily basis.