Ventilator Times

klabofish@mwph.org

Hi all-
I am a seasoned peds RN but fairly new to CDI.  I have a coder who is requesting me to speak with the docs about adding ventilator times to their notes.  I have done some research and it appears that these times can be taken from the ventilator flow sheet.  Is this what other people are doing??

"vent times"= number of hours the kid is on the vent. 

any input is appreciated

Kara

jackietouch@aol.com

We determine vent times from the RT documentation and times of intubation and extubation. The only time it seems to get tricky for our coders is if a trach/vent patient is sprinting off the vent. In those cases, they will sometimes ask us to assist them with determination of times by reviewing the chart. I have started indicating sprint times on my worksheet so the coders are aware.

Jackie Touch, MSN, RN, CCM
CHOC Children's

morris-jeff@CooperHealth.edu

We take the vent times from the ventilator flowsheet also. Are your coders also doing some sort of professional coding for the MD & that's why they are requesting? Interested to hear why they want the MD to state the time

klabofish@mwph.org

Thank you so much, this is very helpful!  Our vent kiddos tend to be chronically ill kids who only require the vent at night or who are completely vent dependent. 

The coders really only want to code from the doctor's (or NP) documentation.  I plan to change that. We also have a fairly old EMR and they need a bit of education on where to locate the information they need.  We also operate slightly differently as we bill per day based on the level of care. 

Thanks again!
Kara Labofish MHA, RN, BSN, CPN
Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital

lnsavage10@yahoo.com

We have a policy and procedure that states that RT is responsible for documenting vent stop and start times. We code from these times since it is their responsibility (and they are the people that actually put the patient on the vent and take them off)