by Laurie L. Prescott, MSN, RN, CCDS, CDIP

I spend much of my time communicating with CDI managers and directors. They work tirelessly to develop and nurture CDI departments, focusing much of their time on training new CDI staff and evaluating the experienced CDI professionals in their care in order to identify areas of education need.

Often CDI directors fight for funding to buy the newest software with the latest and greatest bells and whistles. I remember how excited I was to use the new encoder when I was a young CDI specialist. Now there’s computer assisted coding software, software that prioritizes and develops work lists, tracking software, query opportunity software, etc., etc.

This all sounds great, but I think such technology may also be a hindrance when training new staff.

The submission deadline for the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Chart-Abstracted Clinical and Web-Based Perinatal Care (PC-01) Measures, as well as the PPS-Exempt Cancer Hospital Quality Reporting (PCHQR) Cancer-Specific Treatment (CST) Measures, has been extended to Friday, February 24, according to CMS. This extension includes the following 2016 clinical measures:

The national health expenditure growth is expected to average 5.6% annually over 2016-2025, according to a report published by Health Affairs and authored by CMS’ Office of the Actuary, CMS reported. It is projected to outpace the projected growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) percentage points, resulting in the health share of GDP to rise from 17.8% in 2015 to 19.9% by 2025, largely due to the projected growth in medical prices.

Sepsis accounts for a higher rate of unplanned readmissions than acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure, pneumonia, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a recent JAMA study which analyzed the proportion and cost of 30-day readmissions, Revenue Cycle Advisor reported. CMS uses 30-day readmission rates as a measure of quality of care and pays particular attention to AMI, heart failure, pneumonia, and COPD readmissions because they are frequent and costly.