White Papers

CDI has evolved considerably over the past decade. Beyond its traditional focus on reimbursement accuracy, CDI now plays an integral role in quality reporting, risk adjustment, and organizational performance improvement. While this growth reflects the profession’s increasing strategic importance...

Applying diagnostic criteria is a significant challenge in the pediatric population. The process is not “one size fits all,” as consideration must be made for unique circumstances, including prematurity adjustment for age, congenital conditions, and developmental stage, all of which may impact...

Insurance claim denials and DRG downgrades are frequent concerns and growing areas of focus for CDI programs. CDI functions have expanded to include denial mitigation in their record review process, seeking to capture patient complexity, clarify documentation inconsistencies, and clinically...

Few metrics are as widely used—and as widely misunderstood—as case mix index (CMI). Understanding the complexities of CMI, and effectively communicating CMI trends and fluctuations with organizational administration, is still critical for CDI leaders. This ACDIS white paper offers a review of...

The following tip sheet is a sample from fictitious ABC Health System, based on its own unique patient population and risk model. It is presented here as an example only.

This paper is an update of the 2017 ACDIS white paper, “Clinical validation and the role of the CDI professional.” It discusses the concept of clinical validation as it has evolved through CMS regulations and coding guidance. It also attempts to establish consensus about how CDI professionals...

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on healthcare systems, and CDI departments have suffered from the fallout. An ACDIS survey conducted in June in the aftermath of the initial outbreak showed that many were hit with furloughs, salary reductions, and in some cases layoffs .

But many organizations...

This paper defines a recommended process for medical record review. This includes the important first step of defining the “why” behind the review, and marrying the review outcome to organizational goals.

To read about ACDIS' "hierarchy of authority" of published articles,...