CMS under its Medical Review Policy holds its contractors such as the Medicare Administrative Contractors responsible for insuring the payment of provider claims accurately with the primary mission of reducing provider billing errors. The primary goal is to pay the claims correctly the first time around. MACs review clinical documentation to prevent improper payments and choose claims for review based on many factors such as the service specific improper payment rate,

Unfortunately, they don’t teach you how to run a business in medical school. As a result, many physicians struggle to manage the business side of their practice. Entrepreneurial skills are essential if you want your practice to thrive! Are you looking for ways to improve your practice and take your business to the next level? Below, Core CDI shares some tips to help you build a more profitable practice and improve patient satisfaction.

Most Clinical Documentation Integrity (CDI) programs are mislabeled and misidentified in the present format. Integrity is defined as the quality or state of being complete or undivided per Merriam-Webster. A few years back the association representing the Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialist’s community elected to replace the “Improvement” part of the name to “Integrity”, now referred to as Clinical Documentation Integrity Specialists.

A major challenge of current clinical documentation improvement processes is the undivided focus upon reimbursement as the primary outcome, something undisputable with a clear review of present day Key Performance Indicators. The expression and reporting of the clinical truth in the record beginning with the Emergency Room Documentation, transitioning into the H & P and continuing with the consultant reports and progress notes culminating in the discharge summary

Most Clinical Documentation Integrity (CDI) programs are mislabeled and misidentified in the present format. Integrity is defined as the quality or state of being complete or undivided per Merriam-Webster. A few years back the association representing the Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialist’s community elected to replace the “Improvement” part of the name to “Integrity”, now referred to as Clinical Documentation Integrity Specialists.

A fully engaged Clinical Documentation Integrity Specialists possesses an open mind, is inquisitive, has an insatiable appetite for continual learning in all aspects of physician documentation, commits to maintaining relevancy in clinical medicine and standards of documentation, and subscribes to the philosophy of continuous quality improvement. A highly proficient Clinical Documentation Integrity Specialists is not content with the status quo and is always

A recent conversation with a CDI colleague of mine raised several interesting points I would like to share for consideration. We were discussing an initiative where the CDI specialists and their department were going to transition to working on the floor reviewing records with the intent of conversing more with the physicians and residents on documentation improvement opportunities. The impetus of the initiative to transition to the floor was to be more readily

CDI’s present-day Key Performance Indicators centered upon reimbursement do not truly reflect a meaningful account of performance in impacting the quality, completeness and effectiveness of medical record documentation. Common KPIs include number of physician queries left, number of queries responded to by the physician, number of queries responded to by the physician that captured a CC or MCC, number of queries responded to by the physician that impacted severity of illness/risk of mortality number of charts opened and reviewed per day, etc.

In my continued quest to provide feedback to physicians on best strategies for enhanced communication of patient care focusing upon medical necessity denials, I notice a common theme, ineffective communication within the record, particularly when consultants are on board. There appears to be little collaboration between physicians on the case attributable to insufficient communication. The attending is not driving the ship, tying all the clinical

Denials and appeal is a major challenge for hospitals with the Advisory Board’s biennial revenue cycle survey finding that a median 350-bed hospital would have lost $3.5 million to increased denial write-offs from healthcare payers over the past four years. Hospitals wrote off as uncollectable 90% more denials than six years ago, a difference of $3.5 million for a median 350-bed hospital, according to the report. The Advisory Board found that the median for successful