Bridging the Gap Between Coding and Clinical Documentation Improvement (CDI)

Physicians play vital roles in the overall quality of patient care. However, HIM professionals and clinical documentation improvement specialists also share essential roles in the healthcare system as guardians of PHI and advocates for continuity of care through consistent documentation and accurate code assignment. Clinical documentation improvement specialists (CDIS) are responsible for the communicative aspects of the process, often serving as a liaison between the provider and the coder. The CDIS ensures that the medical record is complete, there is clinical validation to support diagnoses, and that the medical record is consistent without conflicting or obscure documentation. HIM professionals share some of the responsibility of CDIS in addition to abstracting data from the medical record and assigning the appropriate codes to accurately report the patient's clinical picture.Without the two teams working hand in hand to improve the medical record's documentation, billing errors could ensue, and the quality of patient care is at risk. The process is very detailed and requires a clinical and coding mind to work efficiently. More organizations are calling for their CDIS to learn the fundamentals of coding and for their coders to review the medical record with clinical eyes. Which is whythisresource proves invaluable! Whether you're already skilled in HIM but want to add CDI expertise to your resume, or an existing CDIS looking to update your coding skillset this publication will be of good use to you!