By Sharme Brodie, RN, CCDS

One of the wonderful things that time allows us is the ability to look back with an experienced eye and either learn from the past or at the very least have some fun with it.

I remember my first weeks as a CDI specialist as if it just happened. It was a  grueling hiring process and I was thrilled to have gotten the job. Looking back, I have no idea why I thought this would be a good step in my career. None of us knew at that time what we were doing and we had no idea what to expect from this new profession.

Several technical errors led to significant recalculations of 2018 IPPS MS-DRG relative weights.

Some members tell us they start their day with a cup of coffee and the ACDIS website. We think that’s a great way to help you throughout your CDI day. Especially since ACDIS routinely runs polls and surveys.

The fall has been a busy time for ACDIS, filled with celebrations left and right. To spread the joy, the ACDIS team has been conducting giveaways on the ACDIS Facebook page.

The AHA sent a letter urging CMS to address and prevent the problems that flow from hospital compliance reviews conducted by the OIG and its use of extrapolation.

While the ACA has led to fewer 30-day readmissions, this reduction in readmissions does not correlate with 30-day mortality rates, according to a recent study by JAMA.

ACDIS’ sister publication, Revenue Cycle Advisor, needs your help with a quick survey as they develop new educational offerings for HIM managers and directors.

The festive fall feeling doesn’t need to end after events this week. There are still tons of chapter events happening for the rest of October.

Q: We recently had a patient with a pleural effusion who came to the hospital for shortness of breath. The patient had a bronchoscopy, left video-assisted thoracoscopy, evacuation of pleural effusion, pleural biopsies, and talc pleurodesis, but the work up revealed no known cause for the effusion, leaving only a history of CHF and a history of Crohn’s disease.