New to CDI

Hello CDI tak Group!

Was wonderig if anyone could give me some pointers towards becoming a sucessful CDI personnel. I am new to this profession and I am very interested in learning everything I can about CDI. If you have any samples/policies you would like to share, I would greatly appreciate it.

I am working on starting a new CDI prgram here at my facility and need all the help I can get. I do have several questions to ask but I want to start from the beginning. So can you tell me what is the most important part about being a CDI?

If you would like to respond please send me an email to ckitterman@pmh-ok.org or ckitt2001@yahoo.com. I appreciate any insight that you would be willing to share.

Thank-you and have a blessed day!

Christina Kitterman

Comments

  • edited May 2016
    Welcome, welcome!!

    You are entering a fabulous field of learning. Your best resources are ACDIS membership, ACDIS web site and cdi talk. Check out the CDI materials HCPro offers for getting started.

    CDI talk is a great place to post questions and receive answers. The prior post's are all available for perusal.

    Welcome again and enjoy your new quest.

    Charlene Thiry RN, BSN, CPC, CCDS
    Clinical Documentation Specialist
    Quality Resources
    Menorah Medical Center
  • edited May 2016
    Good luck Christina
    I also started our program 5 years ago now!
    Read your query practice brief and everything you can on ACDIS!!
    Their elearning is helpful also...
    You will do great!

    Tina Simpson, BSN, RN, CCDS
    Clinical Denial Management Coordinator
    WRMC, Batesville, AR
  • edited May 2016
    Yes, Welcome!
    Check out the conference in May as well.
    Karen


    Karen McKaig, BSN, RN, CCM, CPUR, CCDS
    Case Manager
    Clinical Documentation Specialist
    Baxter Regional Medical Center
    Mountain Home, AR 72653
    870-508-1499
    kmckaig@baxterregional.org
  • TIME....EDUCATION, TIME, ACDIS, TIME, CDI BLOG, TIME, RESOURCE OF OTHER CDI'S, TIME, TIME TIME...READ READ READ....

    Juli Bovard RN CCDS
    Rapid City Regional Hospital
    Rapid City, SD
  • edited May 2016
    Check out the CDI Road map on the ACDIS web site as well as the forms and tools library. Welcome to the world of CDI

    Diane Draize RN, CPUR,CCDS
    Clinical Documentation Specialist

    Ministry Door County Medical Center
    diane.draize@ministryhealth.org
    920-743-5566 ex 3143

    We earn trust by working together as One Ministry to keep PATIENTS FIRST in everything we do
  • edited May 2016
    Congratulations! You will love it and do great! Acdis has a lot of
    resources and one of the great ones is CDI talk.... I started our
    program over one year ago and have learned so much! I still am learning
    and have a long ways to go but that is what makes this job GREAT! If I
    can be of assistance please feel free to call.
    Jamie Dugan RN
    Baptist Health System
    Jacksonville, Florida
    Office 904-202-4345
  • Welcome!! I was in your shoes 2 years ago. ACDIS and CDItalk have been excellent resources for me. My advice: be a knowledge hound. Push for educational/training opportunities, read the ACDIS and AHIMA journals, peruse their websites. Talk to coder, quality nurses, CBO/finance staff, etc. This really will help you look beyond the basics of reading charts and placing queries. I happen to be in a relatively small hospital (~260beds) and have had the pleasure of getting involved in many, many areas that involve CDI, beyond chart reviews. I LOVE to look back and realize how much I have learned in the last couple of years. It truly is amazing!

    Enjoy!

    Katy Good, RN, BSN, CCDS, CCS
    Clinical Documentation Program Coordinator
    AHIMA Approved ICD-10CM/PCS Trainer
    Flagstaff Medical Center
    Kathryn.Good@nahealth.com
    Cell: 928.814.9404
  • Christina, the best advice from me would be spend some time with your inpatient coding team. First of all they are a wealth of information, coding guidelines etc. When I started I trusted my nursing knowledge but the coding piece was brand new. In spending time with them I learned how I might help them and they learned I was not a threat or trying to be a coder etc. the relationship we built I very much think is why our program has been so successful. We talk several times a day- they ask me nursey questions- I ask them coder questions and we learn from each other.

    Laurie L. Prescott RN, MSN, CCDS
    lprescott@morehead.org
  • edited May 2016
    I'd encourage the Conference if it's within your budget. There will be plenty of information available: sessions, poster sessions, networking opportunities, etc

    Sharon Cole, RN, CCDS
    CDI Specialist
    Providence Health Center
    254.751.4256
    Sharon.cole@phn-waco.org
  • Christina

    Now that the rush of the morning is over, I want to add a few things for you as a new CDI member!

    NEVER get down on yourself, or think that you are not "picking up" or "learning" fast enough! It is a process, and requires the same mentality we had when we graduated from nursing school and started working on the floor. At about a year, for most of us, there was an "AHAA" moment! For myself, and my office CDI staff, we felt more "comfortable" with processes after a year, but we have and "AHAA" moment EVERYDAY! We all agree that if we were to go back to the floor for staff nursing, that having done this job, we would be SO much better at our assessment skills, time management and recognizing clinical issues more readily!

    If you find a resource, fact sheet, or issue that you feel you are weak in; study it, copy it, recite it. Use one another! In my office, we bounce issues off one another all day long. (we have the luxury of being in the same office). NEVER think there isn’t anything else to learn-because there always is-even in something small.

    Because this is such an up-and-coming and new industry, we all are learning, growing and implementing processes that can be of benefit to someone else. What my institution uses as a query or policy, may not work for another institution....but keep looking and asking, because SOMEONE out there has had the same issue as you-almost guaranteed! So share what you learn, use or know-some days if only to get an issue off your chest!

    Be excited, be honest, be humble, be eager. Learn, read, explore, educate, and again, give yourself time! Some days there are not the accolades given or seen, as with other nursing positions. Some days you are not as visible or in a position where you seem to be liked or well received. Some days you will bang your head against the wall and ask, "why am I doing this, or why can't the providers see that this is good for them and the institution". KNOW, in the end, this position is JUST as important as hanging a medication, starting an IV, talking with a family member or changing a dressing. It is important in a different way, but important none-the less!

    Congratulations on your position, and welcome to a great field, and a great group of people! You have the benefit of being at the forefront of a growing population!


    Juli Bovard RN CCDS
    Rapid City Regional Hospital
    Rapid City, SD 57703
  • edited May 2016
    If you can avail upon your new employer to send you to a CDI Boot Camp and an ICD9 Boot Camp it would really assist you in your knowledge level.

    If not- if you can afford it on your own- sign up at least for a CDI Boot Camp. It will give you a foundation from which to build.

    I would do that before spending the $$ to attend any conferences. Get the "why's" & 'What for's" out of the way first.

    NBrunson,RHIA,CDIP,CCDS
  • edited May 2016
    I ditto what most people have mentioned! As Laurie mentioned, connecting with Coders is paramount! When our program first began 4 years ago we had no relationship with coding. The CDI RN team had so many ?'s about coding. We wanted to learn and understand. Our leadership at the time did not want this for some reason. I became Manager last January and the first thing I did was start working closely with Coding! They are a wealth of information and we meet regularly to reconcile DRGs and we all work together learning ICD-10. We offer clinical perspective and they offer coding guidelines and rules clarification for us. I cannot imagine a successful program without this collaboration.
    -Jane
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