by Brian J. Murphy

The ACDIS advisory board recently announced a new timeline for applications and elections to serve on the board. Beginning in 2017, the application period will open in mid-January. Candidates will have three weeks to complete their application. A committee will review applications and narrow the pool of applicants down to a group of finalists, who will be selected by a popular vote of the membership in mid-March. The results of the election will be announced in early April and our new board members will be introduced at that time. In 2017, ACDIS will open up the application period on Monday, January 9, and it will run through Monday, January 30.

CMS will hold a MLN Connects® National Provider Call on Monday, December 12, 1:30-3 p.m., Eastern, regarding the 2016 hospital appeals settlement update, which became available to providers with outstanding claims denials as of December 1.

On November 3, 2016, CMS provided details on the process to allow eligible providers to settle their inpatient status claims currently under appeal using the Hospital Appeals Settlement process. Details on the settlement process are posted on the Hospital Appeals Settlement Process 2016 website.

To register or for more information, visit MLN Connects Event Registration. Space may be limited, register early.

Note: This article originally appeared on the ACDIS Blog.

Every year the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) publishes a list of its audit targets for the following calendar year. Although this hefty tome tops 100 pages, it’s worth a review to ensure the OIG’s targets aren’t diagnoses and documentation trouble spots at your facility.

Call CDI a magic elixir. It enhanced hospitals’ quality of care, case mix index, and ICD-10 transition, according to a recent Black Book Market Research survey of nearly 1,000 healthcare leaders.

“Because of this increased patient engagement, the need for proper clinical documentation improvement driving quality outcome scores has never been more essential,” said Doug Brown, managing partner of Black Book, in a press release.