Posts by Norwood Staffing
Clean Up Your Problem Lists to Facilitate Accurate Coding
By Brian Murphy Per CMS, a problem list is “a list of current and active diagnoses as well as past diagnoses relevant to the current care of the patient.” But they’re often much more. Physicians use them as a place to think in ink about ongoing and active conditions or store other summarized patient data. …
Read MoreBattle over Sepsis-2 vs. Sepsis-3 Heating Up
By Brian Murphy The battle over Sepsis-2 vs. Sepsis-3 continues. Advocates of Sepsis-3 state that it offers a more clinically accurate and rigorous definition, and that sepsis-2 is too vague to be truly useful. Advocates of Sepsis-2 believe that it’s more sensitive and superior for early detection, and sepsis-3 too high a bar to capture…
Read MoreBreaking into CDI as a Foreign Medical Graduate: Eight Strategies for Success
By Brian Murphy Foreign medical graduates (FMG) can make for wonderful CDI professionals—but breaking into the profession poses a unique challenge. Many FMGs emigrate to the U.S. to pursue a career in medicine, but are faced with long odds (30,000 applications for 7000-8000 open residency slots, per one data point I found) and defer that…
Read MoreBack to Documentation School: Lessons from CDI Educator Kalee Vincent
Listen to the full episode here: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/AzfGTtkICJb One of the more promising developments I’ve seen over my career watching the CDI profession bloom is the creation of the CDI educator role. CDI is often labeled by its critics as reactive, sending queries to the provider after he or she has already documented in the chart.…
Read MoreHIV Infections and Principal Diagnosis Selection
By Joanne Wilson, RN, ASN, CCDS, Senior Director, Solutions, Norwood This article marks the beginning of a learning mini-series to address conditions commonly needing clarification for novice and expert CDI staff. We hope you enjoy them! Joanne welcomes your questions or comments at joanne@norwood.com. The first topic in this miniseries is Human Immunodeficiency Disease (HIV) infections.…
Read MoreCompliant Chronic Condition Reporting Requires Provider Documentation of Ongoing Care or Management
By Brian Murphy Chronic condition reporting is more important than ever these days, but also a subject of increasing scrutiny. When a patient comes in for an outpatient visit with a chronic condition, should we report it? The TL;DR answer (to me at least) appears to be that it is the provider’s responsibility to document…
Read MoreDecoding Sepsis: A Clinical Nurse Specialist’s Frontline Perspective
Listen to the full episode here: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/deiNqUvFgJb Sepsis it seems is always in the news, never far from anyone who works in CDI or coding circles. And here we are again, back in the headlines due to its inclusion in the Office of Inspector General (OIG) Work Plan. Sepsis has been discussed so…
Read MoreNEJM Study: AI not Ready to Perform Basic Medical Coding, Let Alone Replace People
In the battle of artificial intelligence (AI) vs. humans, score one for humanity. Yeah, a provocative opening line, and probably needlessly so. AI is after all supposed to be a tool that allows us to do more and/or focus on higher order tasks, resulting in increased efficiency and output. I just don’t happen…
Read MoreTransforming Episode Accountability Model (TEAM) Reconfirms CMS Commitment to Bundled Payments and Value-Based Care
By Brian Murphy Every time I think bundled payments are out, they drag me back in. I like the concept. We know that fragmented care can lead to complications in recovery, avoidable hospitalization, and increased spending. Under bundled payment models, providers assume accountability for the quality and costs of care delivered during a complete episode,…
Read MoreClinical Clarity: Navigating Problem Lists and Defensible Narratives with Dr. Trey LaCharite’
Listen to the full episode here: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/mQEUhXavSIb If you’ve ever been a member of ACDIS you’ve almost certainly encountered Dr. Trey LaCharite’. ACDIS advisory board member? Check. Regular columnist for CDI Journal? Check. Author of the CDI Field Guide to Denial Prevention and Audit Defense? Check. Speaker at the physician advisor pre-conference every year since…
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