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Editorial: Use technology as a tool and not a crutch in your CDI program

CDI Strategies, March 6, 2008

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If you can talk to a physician about a patient, you don't need a laptop to do it and you don't need desk space--you need knowledge, guts, and personality. If you can review a record concurrently (whether on-line or a paper copy), you don't need to drag tons of "stuff" along. It just slows down productivity. You should individualize your queries for each case--you get to know your patients and know your docs that way. If you count on preprinted sheets all of the time, you'll lose the confidence of the medical staff. 

Tracking of effects and effectiveness can be done on an excel spreadsheet or an access database and you don't have to buy someone else's high-priced program. All you need is an idea of what you want to track, tables of important data (like MS-DRGs and their relative weights) to refer to, a standardized list of major items for which you will seek clarification 98% of the time, and a base station computer for data entry.

Setting up a good CDI program requires background work and planning and not a lot of dollars spent on software. Once you get rolling, you should do just fine with virtually no further expenses, except for paper and goodies for the medical staff (sticky stars that say "You are a documentation star," and maybe donated movie tickets or car washes). 

Unfortunately, a lot of companies and CFOs overlook the importance of getting the medical staff, coders, and the CDI staff educated. They take folks who are overworked already and give them more work to do--and cut out the coders and the medical staff. And that doesn't work.

-Robert S. Gold, MD, CEO of DCBA, Inc., in Atlanta, GA. You can contact Dr. Gold via e-mail at DCBAInc@cs.com.

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