Recommended CDI/coding Resources to Follow

By Brian Murphy

Someone asked me in a recent post, “I want to stay up on CDI/coding/reimbursement news to help my career… what do you recommend?”

Here is what I do.

Subscribe to these e-mail newsletters:

• Office of Inspector General (OIG). A rundown of what the chief enforcer and protector of the Medicare Trust Fund is looking at, and where you should focus your compliance efforts to minimize risk. Their audit reports are a must-read.
• CDI Strategies. ACDIS’ once a week email newsletter keeps you up to date on everything going on inside of the association, plus CDI related news and boot camp instructor Q&A.
• ICD-10 Monitor. In-depth articles on coding, documentation, and CDI, written by a variety of authors. You might also want to consider RAC Monitor by the same publisher (MedLearn).
• Keckley Report. For overall analysis of the big picture and what is on the horizon for the healthcare industry, it’s hard to beat Paul Keckley.
• An excellent source of news from the physician/provider perspective. Good mix of in-depth clinical, regulatory, social/physician burnout, EHR, etc.
• Kaiser Health News. A good, seemingly unbiased source of general healthcare news.
• RISE News. Good general risk adjustment related news and updates.

Others include Healthcare Dive, Fierce Healthcare, Healthleaders, and Beckers Hospital Review. Each of these outfits produces good journalism on financial and quality trends, solid coverage on regulatory changes like the IPPS/OPPS/MPFS, etc. Your email inbox will get overwhelmed, but I recommend subscribing to at least 1-2, or trying them all out and seeing which one you prefer.

Listen to these podcasts:

• Coder vs. CDI
• ACDIS Podcast
• Off the Record with Brian Murphy (ahem)
• ICD-10 Monitor

Others that post occasional good CDI/coding relevant content: Vizient, Paint the Medical Picture, Race to Value, The Compliance Guy. Give them a try, see what resonates.

Look for people who post here on LinkedIn and follow them. Too many to mention, but look for those with followers and something to say.

Follow these personalities/content creators who do great work outside of LinkedIn:

• Robert Oubre (Twitter, and here): https://twitter.com/Dr_Oubre. Guy is killing it with some of the most practical, engaging content I’ve read. I had him on episode 6.
• Contempo Coding (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/@ContempoCoding . Very engaging, well-produced videos

Join your local association. ACDIS and AHIMA, optionally the AAPC and HFMA. These have associated membership fees but are worth it IMO, and some employers will pick up the cost. You’ll find many options here including their membership journals but also local chapter meetings that offer free/low-cost education.

Do I read all this content and listen to every podcast and program? Of course not; I have a job and something that resembles a life. But, it’s pretty easy to skim headlines and show titles and delve into the topics that matter to you, and ignore the rest.

There are others, but I’ll stop here. What do you recommend?