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It’s OK to ask direct (but not leading) queries to the provider, CDI professionals
By Brian Murphy Ask direct queries. It’s OK. Sometimes we get so fixated on query format we fail to see forest through the trees. The point of a query is to ask a pointed, clinically relevant question and allow the physician to exercise his/her independent judgement. We should be asking direct no-nonsense queries, especially in…
Read MoreHow do CDI professionals review the medical record (and how has tech changed the game)?
By Brian Murphy I’m always amazed at how little the core function of CDI gets discussed. I’m talking about medical record review. How it’s actually done, the process. For example: Where do you begin when reviewing the record? What steps do you take, and in what order? For inpatients, how long do you wait…
Read MoreWhat outpatient CDI transformations are on your 2026 roadmap? Norwood has 45 in its playbook.
By Jason Jobes As 2025 draws to a close, a question: How are you feeling about your value-based care efforts? Are you capturing risk across your organization, effectively and compliantly? Maybe you want to get better. Maybe you just want to get started. If so, here’s a few ideas from a webinar I presented on…
Read MoreAI and the (Hu)man: The role of people in a technology dominated world
We hear it every day: Artificial intelligence including generative AI is the biggest technological breakthrough of our age. Bigger than the internet and color TV. The promises (and hype) are omnipresent, and there to be appear to be some slam-dunk use cases. But fewer are asking about its impact on humans, or paying attention to…
Read MoreInpatient vs. outpatient coding differences place provider certainty under the spotlight, raise risk adjustment question
By Brian Murphy Why can diagnoses in the hospital inpatient setting be coded if they are possible/probable/likely/suspected, but in the outpatient world you can only code to the highest degree of known specificity? The difference is rooted in the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting. In the hospital inpatient setting, you are allowed to…
Read MoreWhat is your CDI chart review process in the outpatient setting? One organization’s is very thorough
By Brian Murphy Among the highlights of my interview with current Off the Record guest Glenda Bocskovits was hearing about her organization’s process of outpatient CDI chart review. Which is very thorough. The practice of OP CDI is an art, with no one right way. If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say most…
Read MoreCMS announces massive audits of Medicare Advantage plans; time for compliance is now
By Jason Jobes, SVP, Solutions HUGE CMS AUDIT ALERT: CMS just dropped major news that they are exponentially increasing Medicare Advantage and risk adjustment audits. WOW! Our Norwood team has become an industry leader in understanding the nuances of Medicare Advantage audits, risk score accuracy, and education. Are you ready? Is your outpatient CDI program…
Read MoreThe increasing complexity of CDI begs the question: How can we simplify and move forward?
By Brian Murphy Clinical documentation integrity (CDI) has grown increasingly complex. We’ve all heard about the “quadruple aim” of healthcare (a framework whch I’ve never liked, four aims = no aim), but in comparison to CDI the quadruple aim=amateur hour. Many CDI programs have more than a dozen aims. Today a CDI department might track…
Read MoreTo broaden your perspective on work and life, keep climbing
By Justin Satterfield, CEO and Founder, Norwood My colleague and friend Clayton Simons has an uncle who climbed every “fourteener” in Colorado. These are mountains with an elevation of 14,000 feet or greater. There are 58 of them. Clayton and I plan to climb them all, too. Earlier this month we knocked off four in…
Read MoreWhat’s in it for the physician in value-based care arrangements?
By Jason Jobes, SVP Solutions, Norwood What’s in it for me? It’s an age-old question. I feel like this also comes up a lot in the value-based care space when partnering with physicians and other providers. How do you respond to the “what’s in it for me” when a provider asks why they…
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