CDI

Audits are crucial to helping CDI and coding teams stay up to date with the fast pace of medicine and continual changes to coding guidelines. Dawn Valdez, RN, LNC, CDIP, CCDS , writes about best practices for auditing and application of audit findings .

Many healthcare systems are looking at how to expand their CDI program to include outpatient and ambulatory settings. Jennifer Boles, BS, COC, CRC, CCDS-O, explores her ambulatory CDI program’s success and offers advice for those looking to expand.

Social determinants of health such as economic stability and access to education significantly impacting health outcomes. Kim Conner, BSN, RN, CCDS, CCDS-O , outlines potentially confusing ICD-10-CM guidelines and documentation challenges that complicate coding for social determinants.

Debridement is used to treat serious or chronic wounds that do not heal with standard treatment. Lori-Lynne A. Webb, CPC, CCS-P, CCP, CHDA, COBG , describes five types of debridement and how to report these procedures in ICD-10-PCS.

Chinwe Anyika, PhD, RN-BC, CDIP, CCS, CCDS, CCDS-O, CPHIMS , describes varied sepsis definitions and criteria, and outlines the benefits of developing internal sepsis guidelines.

Malnutrition includes undernutrition, inadequate vitamins or minerals, overnutrition, obesity, and diet-related noncommunicable diseases. Inpatient coders must be familiar with clinical criteria and ICD-10-CM coding for this condition as it is frequently the focus of clinical validation audits. Note : To access this free article, make sure you first register here if you do not have a paid subscription.

Sepsis and systemic inflammatory response syndrome are historically difficult to document and report in ICD-10-CM. Alba Kuqi, MD, CCS, CDIP, CCDS, CRCR, CICA, CSCM , breaks down sepsis definitions and outlines a process for query creation.

by Kim Conner, BSN, RN, CCDS, CCDS-O In our ever-changing landscape of healthcare, quality and prevention continue to drive the way we deliver care to our patients. As a result, social determinants...

A handful of new ICD-10-CM/PCS codes took effect April 1. Read up on the updates and CMS’ process for implementing code changes biannually.

Every organization’s priorities will differ, but any outpatient CDI program must determine how to measure the improvement associated with its efforts. Outpatient CDI will directly contribute to the facility’s overall quality performance and risk adjustment models.