News
Salaries improving for CDI specialist, according to ACDIS annual survey
By Brian Murphy ACDIS released its annual CDI Salary Survey. I recommend you go read it, it represents a ton of work and it’s an incredibly valuable resource for the industry. I’d be saying this even if I didn’t used to work for ACDIS. Link below. Here are some interesting data points…
Read MoreNorwood celebrates team excellence with Waymark Awards
By Brian Murphy Are you recognizing your people for their hard work? We do a pretty cool thing at Norwood (well, many cool things, but here’s one). The Waymark Awards. In the wilderness, Waymarks are trail markers that guide travelers and hikers, ensuring they’re on the right path. I am not…
Read MoreMS-DRG “upcoding” results in 2/3 of growth of high-intensity discharges, study says—but there’s more to the story
By Brian Murphy File this under, “Just pay $21 for the full article, Brian.” A study published by Health Affairs claims that “Upcoding Linked To Up To Two-Thirds Of Growth In Highest-Intensity Hospital Discharges In 5 States, 2011–19.” Link to paywall protected article below, though you can read the abstract for free.…
Read More“Career saboteurs” may be holding you back from job and life breakthroughs
By Brian Murphy What is holding you back in your career—and in life? Odds are it’s something within. Nicole Fox and I discussed this topic in candid fashion on a recent episode of the Off the Record podcast. Prior to the show Nicole sent me a short self-assessment that reveals your “career…
Read MoreSTEMI and NSTEMI may be giving way to occlusion MI (OMI) in clinical literature
By Brian Murphy Could STEMI change to OMI? A recent study published in the journal JACC: Advances of ST elevation MI (STEMI) and non-STEMI (NSTEMI) concludes the time has come. STEMI and NSTEMI are familiar terms for coding and CDI professionals. But the study says they are often inadequate for accurate diagnosis,…
Read MoreWhat actually passed with the new TEAM model in 2025 IPPS final rule?
By Brian Murphy What actually passed with the new TEAM model—and what does it mean for your organization? Somewhat lost amid the sea of new regulations and transmittals is CMS’ passage of a new mandatory alternative payment model called the Transforming Episode Accountability Model (TEAM) in the 2025 IPPS final rule. Per…
Read MoreMake the new CMS quality measure Thirty-Day Risk Standardized Death Rate a major priority in your CDI, coding efforts
By Brian Murphy Among the many ethical challenges CDI professionals face is pressure to make their organizations and/or providers look better on paper, through elimination of diagnoses that might trigger a patient safety indicator (PSI) or other quality measure. In some organizations the pressure to improve quality scores is stronger than CC/MCC/HCC capture. …
Read MoreUniversity of Colorado Health $23M settlement a red flag for over-reliance on automated coding
By Jason Jobes FALSE CLAIMS ALERT: University of Colorado Health has agreed to pay the United States $23M for false claims tied to E/M levels billed for emergency department services. At its core technology makes good—or bad—processes move faster. Thanks for taking time to read this post. If you find this valuable, please send…
Read MoreHCC coding compliance Q&A
Norwood hosted a webinar on Nov. 12, Navigating Regulatory Waters in Risk Adjustment: The OIG, False Claims Act, and HCC Findings.” During the show we got several excellent comments in the Q&A chat. Below is an excerpted and lightly edited transcription. You can view an on-demand recording of the full program here: https://my.demio.com/ref/o0WT9l8jMiof0v8L Question: We…
Read MoreUpcoding, AI, audits, ICD-11 all keeping medical coders up at night, according to HIM survey
By Brian Murphy What’s keeping medical coders up at night? Besides a Halloween hangover of too many scary movies and candy? Topping the list are upcoding pressures, artificial intelligence, audits, value-based care coding, and ICD-11 (yikes—scary). Thanks to Becker’s Hospital Review for offering up this helpful summary of an Oct. 18 survey…
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