Posts by Norwood Staffing
Antarctic Anecdotes: The real-life adventure of ex-CDI physician advisor Howard Rodenberg
There comes a point in our life when we all need to take an adventure. For most that means a vacation to an exotic faraway continent. For others, that might mean taking a new job, or changing careers altogether. Or starting a family. All of these are adventures of one sort or another. All are wonderful.…
Read MoreHow do you handle “unable to determine” query responses?
By Brian Murphy Unable to determine. Love it? Hate it? Or do you understand why it must (usually) be offered as a query option? The latest ACDIS-AHIMA guidance, Guidelines for Achieving a Compliant Query Practice, imply that “unable to determine” should typically (but crucially, not always) be offered to the physician in a traditional multiple-choice…
Read MoreMajor Depressive Disorder: Report accurately, and shore up the medical record against denial
By Brian Murphy Large caveat to the following: I am not a clinician, nor a coder, though my work frequently brushes up to clinical coding. I was having a recent conversation with my colleague Jason Jobes for an upcoming episode of Off the Record, during which we touched on OIG audits of HCCs and unsupported…
Read MoreBack from ACDIS, talking value-based care and outpatient CDI with Jason Jobes
By Brian Murphy After a short break that was not really a break because we were on the road at ACDIS 2023 we’re back with another episode of Off the Record. I’m joined by fellow conference-goer, presenter, and colleague Jason Jobes, senior vice president of solutions at Norwood. On this show we dive into the…
Read MoreForeign Medical Graduates: Finding a Clinical Calling, and a Career, Through CDI
By Brian Murphy Sulaiman Rasheed (“King Solomon,” or “Sully,” as his colleagues call him) took the long way to CDI. Literally and figuratively. A native of Pakistan, Rasheed is a graduate of Gandhara Medical University. He once dreamed of being a doctor. Today he has realized a dream he never knew he had—CDI professional. Rasheed…
Read MorePayer perspective: A conversation with Colleen Gianatasio
CDI and coding professionals typically recoil from the dreaded word, “payer.” After all, provider-payer relationships are often adversarial at best, hostile at worst. Clarify the diagnosis or procedure with the physician, apply the medical code … only to have the payer downcode or outright deny the claim. My guest on today’s podcast understands the frustration…
Read MoreStruggling to land a job? Learn and avoid these common reasons for rejection
By Celeste Austin, Business Development Manager, Norwood Are you on the job market but struggling to land a job—even after what seems like an eternity? If you get a vague rejection after an interview, there’s always a valid reason behind it that your recruiter may not be able to share in detail—either out of respect…
Read MoreShore up the medical record and your hospital with these denials-busting documentation strategies
By Brian Murphy If you’re a CDI specialist these days, odds are you will be involved in denials. According to the 2022 ACDIS Industry Overview Survey released in February, 68% of respondents indicated that they were involved in the denials or appeals process—10% higher than in 2021 (1). We wanted to get some tips and…
Read MoreExplosive growth of Medicare Advantage covered lives requires organizational mindset shifts
By Jason Jobes, SVP Consulting How do you incorporate the growth of rate of Medicare and/or Medicare Advantage in your organizations operational plans? Do you monitor changes in market share when considering population changes moving forward? As of April, 2023 there are 64.4 million Medicare beneficiaries in the country. This has grown from 57.9 million…
Read MoreCDI-ing like its 1999: A conversation with Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist director Tamara Hicks
How long have you been in CDI, oh listener? Three years, five, 10? Maybe as many as 16, if you started back when CMS adopted MS-DRGs and ACDIS began, in the hazy, pre-Tik-Tok days of 2007? My most recent guest on Off the Record has been in CDI for 24 years, starting in 1999.…
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