Note from the Instructor | How do I find CDI education? | by Sharme Brodie, RN, CCDS Many people come to a CDI position and need to educate themselves in areas with which they have limited experience, leaving many new to the field wondering what they’ve gotten themselves into. Deciding which areas need education often depends upon the service line or specialty you previously worked in. |
| |
ACDIS Picks | Special Report: From finance to quality, CDI departments expand their reach | In 1999, the Institute of Medicine reported that medical errors represent one of the leading causes of mortality in the United States and noted that medical error–related deaths resulted in more than 50,000 preventable deaths and $20 billion in associated costs annually. Since then, the government has increasingly looked for ways to improve patient care and move away from its traditional fee-for-service reimbursement model. |
| |
Membership Update | Q&A: Parsing hospital-acquired pneumonia from hospital-acquired conditions | Q: Why is hospital-acquired pneumonia not considered a CMS hospital-acquired condition (HAC)? A: This is confusing to a lot of people because of the similarity of terms used. Hospital-acquired pneumonia is a clinical descriptor. However, CMS’ hospital-acquired conditions are more of a payment classification than a clinical classification. Thus, those conditions that are certainly hospital acquired from a clinical perspective may or may not be a CMS hospital-acquired condition. |
News: Deadline for 2017 Conference poster presentations today! | The deadline for poster presentation applications closes today, Thursday, December 15, at 5 p.m., eastern. Poster presentations allow participants to read and review details regarding an individual or facility CDI success story. Volunteers must commit to attend the 10th annual ACDIS conference, which takes place May 9-12, 2017, at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, create a poster on their theme/topic, and be available to explain his or her poster to conference attendees during a dedicated viewing time during the event. |
Tip: What is (and isn’t) in your control regarding case-mix index | by Trey La Charité, MD, FACP, SFHM, CCDS Your CDI program successfully obtained consistent results over the last few years, and all is right within the CDI world. Then, the facility case-mix index (CMI) unexpectedly drops. Provided it rebounds, one or two months below its usual average is probably not cause for a great deal of concern. But what happens when the CMI shows an overall downward trend for six months, or a year, or two years? To be blunt, making an initial positive impact with your new CDI program is the easy part. Maintaining that momentum over the long haul, year after year, is a more difficult task. |
Tip: How to apply for CCDS Continuing Education Units | ACDIS provides continuing education units (CEUs) for CDI-related training and education activities that meet guidelines outlined on our recertification page (https://acdis.org/certification/recert) on the website. CEUs for activities that provide training and education on CDI-related topics such as ICD-10-CM/PCS, clinical disease or diagnosis, disease process, coding, documentation improvement activities, related technology, DRG, reimbursement, anatomy and physiology, or diagnosis/pathophysiology education. |
| |
Career Center | Post your open positions or find your next career move with the ACDIS Career Center. | |
| Product Spotlight | Struggling to identify clinical indicators needed to qualify a diagnosis as complication comorbid (CC) condition or a major CC (MCC) condition? New coders and CDI specialists often do, but so do those who’ve been in the field a while. Add to this the numerous changes associated with Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting, AHA’s Coding Clinic for ICD-10-CM/PCS, and the changes to the codes and CC/MCC lists themselves, and CDI staff may feel overwhelmed with one of the basic tenets of their role as documentation improvement professionals. Buy Now |
| |
Contact Us | Melissa Varnavas Associate Editorial Director ACDIS [email protected] Carrie Dry National Sales Manager ACDIS [email protected] Association for Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists 35 Village Road, Suite 200 Middleton, MA, 01949 800-650-6787 www.acdis.org | |
Register to Access Free Content | Not an ACDIS member? No problem. ACDIS has plenty of articles, tips, tools, and other resources FREE to access when you register your username and password. Non-members can click here to sign up. Don't miss any of the exciting, free things ACDIS has to offer! Register Today | |
|