DCBA’S Clinical Documentation Improvement Programs Ahead of Others
Severity of illness issues major focus since inception
As we are now in the second year of MS-DRGs, other documentation programs are still scrambling to respond to the changes. Where we have directed our efforts toward severity of illness and risk of mortality for the past five years, others are re-focusing their efforts from purely a financially driven program. Where we have been directing our programs to the Medical Staffs of hospitals, others are busily hiring physicians and training them in what they think will work. DCBA’s program has been one of the few that has been driven by severity of illness and risk of mortality issues since we started and our clients are doing just fine with the MS-DRG changes, POA and hospital profile data.
"Thanks so much. I just wanted you to know that I feel we had excellent training from Dr Catalano and your organization. After reading and listening to the info on ACDIS website I am very appreciative of the extensiveness of your program. I feel I am well prepared to do my job the best I can, for a rookie. I have found new excitement in my nursing career by doing documentation improvement and am grateful that Asante has the foresight to start our program. I am hoping down the road to be able to be a trainer in this field, too."
CDI Specialist
Asante Health System
Medford, Oregon |
We have watched for years as others have promoted increasing your Case Mix Index as the method of proving effectiveness of a documentation program. We have seen others publish how important it is for hospitals to be on top of CC-Capture Rate as a measure of success and today’s reimbursements.
DCBA’s focus has always been working with the medical staff to teach them how to paint the picture of their patients – ALL of their patients, regardless of payor - in words that will demonstrate true severity of illness and risk of mortality. Using compliance as our benchmark, we have discouraged use of CMI and CC capture rate as a measure of success. We have recommended accuracy of documenting all aspects of the individual case, teaching physicians, documentation specialists and coders how to capture accurate and compliant data and to utilize severity-adjusted measures as the true method of demonstrating success.
And guess what? Everything falls in line with that perspective – and the Medical Staff appreciates it.
Our processes are directed toward a medical-staff led program whereby the physicians and their mid-level providers develop an understanding of the clinical aspects of codes and how a true Clinical Documentation Improvement Program impacts them, their patients and their practices.
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