Add analysis of severity adjusted data to your CDI activities
Catapult your CDI program with SOI/ROM assessments.
The days of capturing a patient’s condition solely through complications and comorbidities (CC) and major CCs (MCC) are slowly fading. There is a new focus on capturing severity of illness (SOI) and risk of mortality (ROM), and clinical documentation improvement (CDI) programs are taking notice.
And why shouldn’t they? SOI and ROM programs provide a higher level of detail about a patient’s condition and the care provided. They also strengthen hospitals’ quality data and physician report cards, which in turn improve revenue and reduce compliance risk.
During a September 18 HCPro audio conference, “Severity of Illness and Risk of Mortality: Sharpen Your CDI Focus with New Measures of Success,” speaker Garri L. Garrison, RN, CPC, CMC, CPUR, defined SOI as “the extent of physiological decomposition or organ system loss of function experienced by the patient.” Or in simpler terms, “how sick is the patient?” In self-explanatory terms, ROM is meant to indicate the patient’s likelihood of dying.
These two terms should catapult your CDI program to new heights of clinical specificity. A severity adjusted program is an ideal method to carry out your new and improved CDI efforts. A severity adjustment program allows hospitals, consumers, payers, and regulators to understand the patients being treated, the costs incurred and, within reasonable limits, the services and outcomes expected.
About the Author: Melissa Varnavas, CPC, ACDIS associate director, editor for CDI Strategies, CDI Journal. She has several writing awards from various newsletter and newspaper organizations.
Don | Oct 28, 2009 | Reply
One of the hurdles (large) is how to measure the SOI/ROM for your hospital (& improvements to same due to your CDI efforts). Clearly, if one has access to the 3M APR grouper and reporting tools, then should be in relatively good shape. If not….I have yet to find an answer!!
There had been discussions about obtaining the 3M APR here a couple of years ago, but was decided not to since we don’t code & bill with APR DRGs.
Yes, there are stove pipes & tunnel vision to contend with at times.
Over the past several months I’ve looked for and taken each opportunity to talk about SOI profiling and the needed tools to do so ‘in house’ hoping to generate some buzz and desire. It is yet to be seen if this is gaining any traction.
Don