By Allen Frady, RN-BSN, CCDS, CCS, CRC

When AHA Coding Clinic for ICD-10-CM, Second Quarter 2017, came out last year I found myself repeating a conversation I’d had with physicians many times before. Such is the life of a CDI professional—if it were one-and-done none of us would have job security.

On page 9 of that Coding Clinic, the AHA tells us that encephalopathy is not intrinsic to a stroke. “But how can that be?” A physician asked me during a Clinical Documentation Improvement Boot Camp at the time. “The stroke caused the encephalopathy!” He considered the encephalopathy to be intrinsic to the CVA because without the stroke, encephalopathy would have never occurred. This is in sharp contrast to how I used the term intrinsic, which was to say “a routine finding.”

ACDIS members are invited to participate in today’s quarterly conference call at 1 p.m. eastern.

Only 12% of eligible hospitals signed up for CMS’ BPCI Model 2 initiative and 47% of them dropped out completely within two years, according to a recent study by JAMA.

CMS now allows teaching physicians to verify student documentation of E/M services, rather than re-documenting the work.

With the poster application period closing tomorrow, February 16, ACDIS wants to know your ideas now!

Offering CCDS CEUs can be a great way to entice folks to participate in your next local chapter event.

The annual ACDIS Conference offers the CDI community the opportunity to honor professionals who exemplify the CDI mission in the ACDIS Achievement Awards.

Q: We’ve encountered audit takebacks and denials from a certain payer who removed codes and procedures that result in lower DRGs. Do you have any advice for fighting or preventing these types of denials?

Starting this year, CMS plans to conduct an annual call for measures related to the Medicare EHR Incentive Program.