CDI Companion for Physician Advisors: Notes From the Field
Trey La Charité, MD, FACP, SFHM, CCDS
When it comes to clinical documentation, physician advisors have a range of important responsibilities, from query escalation to denials management and everything in between. With all these tasks on their plate, physician advisors are constantly pulled in different directions, making it hard to make the best use of their time. CDI Companion for Physician Advisors: Notes From the Field is designed to help physician advisors structure their time properly and carry out their CDI duties effectively and efficiently.
This book will help physician advisors:
- Find their feet in the CDI role
- Identify tools to provide effective documentation education for physicians and CDI staff
- Engage medical staff in documentation improvement efforts
- Understand common documentation deficiencies for difficult diagnoses such as sepsis, heart failure, and kidney disease
- Work with their CDI team to tackle advanced record reviews in areas such as quality, audit defense, and outpatient HCCs
- Figure out how to best structure their time to carry out CDI duties
About the Author:
Trey La Charité, MD, FACP, SFHM, CCDS, is a hospitalist with the University of Tennessee Medical Center (UTMC) and a past ACDIS Advisory Board member. He serves as the physician advisor for UTMC’s clinical documentation integrity program, coding, and Recovery Auditor response. La Charité is a regular contributor to CDI Journal, co-author of the Physician Advisor’s Guide to CDI, and a co-lead instructor for the popular Physician Advisor Boot Camp.
Published: November 2016
Page Count: 150
Dimensions: 7 X 9
ISBN: 978-1-68308-170-8
Table of Contents
Dedication
About the Author
Introduction
Chapter 1: A Bucket of Cold Water: Starting a CDI Program
Keeping the Doors Open
Picturing a CDI Program
Chapter 2: The Physician Advisor’s Role
Juggling Responsibilities
Choosing the Right Fit
Assigning Responsibilities
Chapter 3: Program Development and Staff Selection
Professional Backgrounds
Homegrown or Outsourced Staff?
Staffing Ratios
CDI Reporting Structure
Training New Staff
CDI and Provider Interaction
Chapter 4: Teaching and Engaging Physicians
Recasting the Financial Focus
Turning Back the Clock
Addressing the Bad—and the Downright Ugly
Underperforming Service Lines
Passing Over the Noncompliant
Chapter 5: Clinical Conditions and Concerns
Clinical Definition Evolution
Troublesome Diagnoses
Clinical Conundrums
Chapter 6: Achieving and Maintaining Compliance
Program Origins
Expansion Opportunities
Compliant Queries and Materials
Unexpected CDI Effects
Patient Status Shifts
Questions of Clinical Validity
Vendor Promises
Denial Prevention
Hospital Status: Endangered!
Chapter 7: Next Steps
The Natural CDI Evolution
Patient Safety Indicators
Patient Mortality Reviews
Outpatient Reviews