Lighting a CDI fire with Tom Brazelton, CDI medical director UW Health

off the record

News flash: Many (most?) physicians aren’t on board with CDI initiatives and coding practice. It’s understandable; they’re busy with patient care, and in their remaining hours are swamped with chart completion. Answering clinical queries and documenting with greater specificity is either seen as a chore or falls by the wayside entirely. Sometimes it takes real-world…

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Payer 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…

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Legal eagle: Healthcare denials through the eyes of Sarah Mendiola

Denials are a reality of life in the mid-revenue cycle. And they’re not going anywhere. As Medicare Advantage (MA) grows—MA Organizations statistically deny more care than traditional Medicare—the volume of denied claims will only keep growing. I wanted to talk about this subject with someone who not only understands the current mine-filled landscape, but knows…

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