by Brian Murphy

The COVID-19 pandemic brought into stark relief the fact that CDI departments must have a strong and consistent mechanism for displaying the value they bring to their organizations. It doesn’t necessarily matter what that value is—financial impact, quality improvement, code accuracy, provider engagement, improved patient satisfaction scores—just that it has to reflect a demonstrable impact, and be aligned with an organization’s goals and objectives.

The hard truth is that CDI departments that failed to demonstrate value fared worse in the pandemic than those whose organizations understood the value CDI brings to the table.