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Thursday, August 12, 2021
 

Note from the ACDIS Director

Getting CMS’ ear on malnutrition

by Brian Murphy

Few diagnoses seem to be under the microscope so intensely as severe malnutrition. A year ago, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) released the report “Hospitals Overbilled Medicare $1 Billion by Incorrectly Assigning Severe Malnutrition Diagnosis Codes to Inpatient Hospital Claims.” (What a headline!) In it, the OIG describes an audit of about 225,000 claims, representing $3.4 billion in Medicare payments, within the discharge date of fiscal year 2016-2017. These claims contained a severe malnutrition diagnosis code which was the only MCC. The audit consisted of a random sample of 200 claims with payments totaling $2.9 million. A subcontractor for the OIG performed both medical and coding reviews to determine whether the services were medically necessary and properly coded.

 

ACDIS Picks

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News: 2021 PSI specification updates posted
Q&A: A GMLOS primer
 

ACDIS Updates

ACDIS update: Join us for the next Quarterly Call on August 19
ACDIS update: Special offer for ACDIS PRO and 2022 Pocket Guide preorder
ACDIS update: CDI Week recipe card template available!
Local chapter update: Hold an in-person get-together at the ACDIS conference
 

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Blog Highlight

Here's what's been published on the ACDIS Blog in the last month:

Do you have a tip, story, or perspective to share with the broader ACDIS and CDI community? If you’re interested in writing a piece for the Blog, here are a couple guidelines for you:

  • Length: Typically, 500-700 words. If your post is longer, we may break it into two posts for readability.
  • Content: All things CDI (and coding too)! We love hearing about your experiences and the lessons you’ve learned about CDI along the way.

Besides those two guidelines, all you have to do is submit your piece to ACDIS Editor Carolyn Riel (criel@acdis.org).

 

 
 

Contact Us

Carolyn Riel
Associate Editor
ACDIS
criel@acdis.org

Carrie Dry
National Sales Manager
ACDIS
cdry@hcpro.com

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