CDI
CDI chart review metrics: Worth tracking anymore?
By Brian Murphy Are CDI chart review productivity metrics outdated and in need of replacing? They’ve been the same for 10 years. (How’s that for a Monday morning shot of coffee)? I was reviewing the CDI Week industry overview survey and found something interesting: Productivity stats have essentially stayed unchanged YOY… for ten years. 2025:…
Read MoreTwo authors talk shop on CDI, physician advisors … and heavy metal
Listen to the podcast here. Trey LaCharite has seen it all during his time as physician advisor. The debut of ICD-10. The growth of value-based care and CMS pay for performance initiatives. And the rise of EHRs and the dreaded RACs. For more than a decade he’s brought that distilled wisdom to the ACDIS national…
Read MoreWhere Are We With Sepsis? Read our latest report to find out.
By Brian Murphy Download the report here. Sepsis is deadly, prevalent, and expensive to treat, and therefore capturing it in documentation and coded data among the highest priorities of mid-revenue cycle professionals. It’s also one of the most difficult diagnoses to capture and the most at-risk, prone to denials and regulatory scrutiny. And there are…
Read MoreShould you follow the ACDIS/AHIMA query brief? I say yes: Here’s why.
By Brian Murphy Should you follow the ACDIS/AHIMA query brief? <= Not rage-bait, honest question. Earlier this year ACDIS/AHIMA issued a new physician query practice brief. It started with a draft, subject to public comment (I put in a couple myself), followed by a final brief, ACDIS/AHIMA Guidelines for Achieving a Compliant Query Practice—2026…
Read MoreFifth Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction (MI) published: What it says for your CDI, coding, and clinical teams
The Fifth Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction (MI) has been published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. What is the new definition? The fifth definition removes the fourth definition’s numerical classification (i.e., MI types 1, 2, 3, 4a, 4b, 4c, 5) and replaces them with three categories: Primary MI, Secondary MI, and…
Read MoreWho Owns Sepsis? The Battle to Define a Deadly Condition
By Brian Murphy, host, Off the Record podcast Listen to the episode here. CDI, coding, and clinical medicine are involved in a tug-of-war over a complex, life-threatening medical emergency that seems resistant to all forms of consensus. I’m talking about sepsis of course, and on today’s show I got to talk about sepsis with someone…
Read MoreDownload Coding in the Gray: Why Human Judgment Still Matters (part 2 of a 2-part series)
Download the report on our resources page. There is a LOT of talk these days about automation. Autonomous coding solutions that can code with near-perfect accuracy—and no human intervention. Providers picking a code from a drop-down menu, enabled by a computer-generated prompt, and voila: Maximized billing and denial-proof revenue. We’re not buying it. We’ve been…
Read MoreHow Norwood changed an organization’s CMI trajectory–to the tune of $2.56M
A drop in case mix index (CMI) isn’t necessarily indicative of a problem. A high-performing surgeon leaves your hospital, observation cases tick up seasonally, and you get a short-term drop. But flagging CMI over time warrants a closer look. Last year Norwood was asked to partner with an organization to focus on assessing and improving CDI performance. The CFO asked for an initial focus on CMI lift after long-term financial concerns. Norwood placed a three-person team to help…
Read MoreDo hospital ratings matter? Here’s what your peers say
By Brian Murphy Hospital ratings: Does anyone care? Healthgrades earlier this year announced its top 50, top 100, and top 250 hospitals awards. Links below; do you see your home state or hospital represented? Some heavy hitters made the Top 50 Hospitals list (though none from my home state of MA, which is traditionally…
Read MoreDownload The State of Physician Queries
Download the report. The old-timers—and perhaps a few relatively recent-timers—will recall a recent past when a query was pretty straightforward. Discrete to the encounter. Fee-for-service. Reimbursement driven. Ask the question, get a response. Dusted and done. Those days are long gone. A query isn’t just a query, anymore. And that’s a good thing. This new…
Read More