Creating a High-Performing CDI Program

Ensuring accurate documentation, capturing a true clinical picture, and pushing quality objectives are always front of mind for CDI teams. Yet CDI leaders also can’t ignore that revenue is becoming a more critical component as hospitals face bottom-line losses due to COVID-19. As leaders strive to balance competing goals, they are examining everything from CDI metrics and physician engagement strategies to new technology solutions.

In partnership with Iodine Software, the Association of Clinical Documentation Integrity Specialist (ACDIS) CDI Leadership Council asked several of its members to evaluate the results of a nationwide survey detailing the metrics CDI leaders use to prove program effectiveness, prioritize their responsibilities, and reach peak performance. The Council members were then asked to discuss their organizational approach to metrics and proving impact. In this industry report, readers get a full inside look at how CDI leaders are approaching CDI programmatic concerns!

Three biggest talking points:

• According to survey respondents, the three most popular measures to show CDI process effectiveness are query rate (81%), response rate (79%), and review rate (77%).
• When asked how valued their CDI department is for contributing to financial performance, more than half (58%) of respondents said they feel extremely valued, while 26% feel somewhat valued. Only 10% feel somewhat undervalued.
• Nearly half (48.65%) of respondents agreed that wasting time reviewing cases without opportunity is the number one aspect of the CDI role they would eliminate, followed by 20% who said their highest priority would be to eliminate tracking down physician responses