All Entries Tagged With: "certification"
NC Chapter offers meeting in the mountains
North Carolina ACDIS Chapter’s next meeting takes place Friday, November 13, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Appalachian Regional Healthcare Watauga Medical Center in Boone, NC.
www.blowingrock.com
“I love the fall,” Taylor wrote in an e-mail. “It is my favorite time of year.” So she’s particularly excited to be traveling to the mountains for the NC ACDIS group’s final 2009 meeting. “I’m sure many will decide to spend a long weekend in the mountains of Boone and Blowing Rock,” she says.
The scenery makes these locations among the most popular in our National Park System. Doing a little digging I found out that the Crestwood Inn in Blowing Rock has a wine club that meets at 7 p.m. on November 12th, so guess where I’d be staying! But alas! Although Taylor did her best to entice me, I’ll be diligently performing fall’s not-so favorite task of raking up those autumnal vestages this weekend. Hope I can get my nephews and husband to help with the raking!
If leaf-peeping and sweeping vistas don’t encourage you to join the group, rest assured they have a full clinical documentation improvement agenda that includes changes to 2010 ICD-9 codes, and CCDS certification tips and study groups.
Earlier this year the NC Chapter suggested a friendly contest to see which ACDIS chapter could gather the greatest number of CCDS certified professionals among its memberships by the time the 2010 ACDIS Conference rolls around. With current membership around 55, they challenged themselves to see if they could get 20% of their members to take and pass the exam. Taylor and her cohort Jennifer Love aim to facilitate that goal by organizing study groups to help NC members if they chose to take the test.
In 2010, the NC group will alter its meeting format slightly. Instead of meeting quarterly, the group will plan biannual meetings augmented with teleconferences to discuss best practices. The biannual meeting will most likely be an all-day educationally focused event in the spring and fall. The meeting locations will rotate to allow for transportation needs and to encourage greater participation, Taylor says.
For information, e-mail j.love@novanthealth.org or leah.taylor@iredellmemorial.org.
New e-learning courses open to ACDIS members
In my spare time, I am a creative writing student at a low residency program. Essentially, that
Not an actual sample.
means I’m taking a correspondence course on how to be a better writer. Every month I mail off a packet of papers. My adviser takes out her colored pens, marks them up, and sends them back. It is a little intimidating. I trust you share my “red pen” fears. But I graduate in January (hooray), and hopefully these writing lessons have made the Blog, e-newsletter, and other publications more enjoyable for you.
Sometimes, however, I catch myself wishing for a simpler way, something more akin to our own ACDIS online learning library. As far as I know though there are no writing CEUs for assistant association directors. But if you happen to be in the market for a convenient way to collect CEUs for coding, case management, or CCDS certifications, ACDIS can help.
Just last week we posted two new e-learning courses: one on hospital acquired conditions and another on present on admission. These new programs join sessions on 2009 IPPS MS-DRG update, understanding and applying the 2009 ICD-9-CM codes, inpatient coding: physician queries, and major complications/comorbidities.
Since I won’t be earning CEUs for writing this blog post, I’ll be jumping online in the coming weeks to tackle the ACDIS e-learning offerings myself. I promise to post my progress to all of you here. Feel free to place your bets now on how I’ll do.
If you’ve taken any of our courses please let us know what you think. ACDIS plans to add roughly four new courses every year and we’d love your feedback about what to concentrate on in 2010.
North Carolina Chapter offers credentialing challenge
Good afternoon fellow ACDIS members,
NC ACDIS leaders Jennifer Love, Leah Taylor, and Cathy Dickey (not pictured Abby Steelhammer) challenge others to set certification goals.
The North Carolina ACDIS Chapter is moving forward with a goal — to have 20% of its members become Certified Clinical Documentation Specialists (CCDS) by the next annual conference.
ACDIS estimates that roughly 300 people will have registered to take the exam by the end of 2009. More than 100 CDI professionals took the exam after the ACDIS conference in Las Vegas in May. Since then support for the CCDS credential has grown.
Similarly, the North Carolina ACDIS Chapter has been meeting quarterly over the past year. This summer its members elected an administrative leadership team that includes myself (Jennifer Love) vice president, Leah Taylor president, Cathy Dickey treasurer, and Abby Steelhammer secretary.
We understand the importance of doing quality work and feel honored to be making history. We will be forming study groups soon. We hope that you will join us at your local chapters and engage in this friendly competition to elevate the role of CDI specialist through the value of the CCDS credential.
To learn more about certification, visit www.cdiassociation.com. To learn more about the North Carolina Chapter’s challenge e-mail j.love@novanthealth.org.
Looking for ‘love’: Tips needed to motivate CDI staff
Lots of people love their jobs, but what motivates CDI specialists to go that extra mile?
Self-motivation is a good thing and to some extent most people are self-motivated. Particularly when it comes to clinical documentation improvement professionals. Let’s face it, it’s go-go-go job investigating query opportunities, working the nursing units, hunting down doctors. But what actually motivates professionals to go that extra mile? What makes healthcare professionals go that little bit further to either join a professional organization, go back to school, obtain their coding credentials, or sign up to take the test to join the ranks of the new ACDIS designation of certified clinical documentation specialists (CCDS)?
I imagine it might take a little more than mere encouragement, a little more than just a little love amongst professional colleagues. What do you all think? What are some of things you’ve been doing to help motivate staff members? Let me know! I need ideas!
~Jennifer Love
Member generosity highlights ACDIS conference
It was great to get to know so many ACDIS members down in Las Vegas last week. I need to send out a special thank you to my fellow blogger Sylvia Hoffman and her colleague Darlene Shelffo. Sylvia wasn’t able to make it to this year’s show due to prior engagements but sent along a beautiful crystal vase and a lovely card for me in Darlene’s care. I couldn’t believe the extent of their generosity. But I guess that’s really just emblematic of the rest of the wonderful people I met this week.
Take the professionals recognized during Thursday’s luncheon. A 13 member committee worked with ACDIS Director Brian Murphy to develop the second annual conference. They met frequently to sort through possible conference topics and iron out the agenda, establish multiple conference tracks, and work out any potential cliches. Without them the conference couldn’t become a reality. The members included:
- Susan Boley
- Wendy Clesi
- Tiffany Colliver
- Julie Doy
- Vicki Ellinger
- Alice Hayden
- Robin Holmes
- Kyle McElroy
- Maria Narvaez
- Wendy Poskanzer
- Kimberly Richert
- Teri Shoulder
- Teri Wilson
It was also the generous efforts of volunteers that enabled ACDIS to launch the Certified Clinical Documentation Specialist exam on Saturday, May 16. The CCDS board members included:
- Deborah Biskner
- Jill Brocker
- Margi Brown
- Mary Beth Brown
- Gloryanne Bryant
- Tamara Hicks
- Kathy Kerfoot
- Wanda Myers
- Mary Phelps
- Suzanne Rogers
- Lynne Spryszak
CCDS Exam: What you need to know before you go
If you’re one of the more than 100 people who signed up to take the Certified Clinical Documentation Specialist exam, make your way down to Florentine I on Caesars’ Promenade Level, as early as possible, on Saturday, May 16.
Registration begins at 7 a.m. and the exam begins promptly at 8 a.m.
Members of the ACDIS Certification Board spent many, many hours diligently working with Applied Measurement Professionals, Inc. (AMP) to create the most appropriate, fair, balanced test possible. AMP requires strict adherence to its test taking rules. Please keep in mind the following items:
You will need to show two forms of identification when you register. Acceptable forms of primary identification include:
- Current driver’s license with photograph
- Current state identification with photograph
- Current passport
- Current military identification card with photograph
Acceptable forms of secondary identification may include any type of credit card or identification with your name and signature.
You will be allowed to bring two books into the exam. These include:
- DRG Expert, published by Ingenix; and
- ONE of the following standard drug reference guides:
- Mosby’s Nursing Drug Reference
- Nurse’s Pocket Drug Guide
- Physicians’ Desk Reference
- PDR Nurse’s Drug Handbook
- Nursing Drug Handbook/Lippincott’s
Other than your identification and these texts please do not bring any personal belongings with you. We strongly recommend that you leave your personal belongings in your hotel room, or check them with the hotel staff at the bell desk.
The test takes approximately three hours. Some people will finish early and others may require the entire three hours-however this is a timed examination. We will track the time and make announcements accordingly.
(Tip: Allow yourself enough wiggle room in your travel plans. We will begin reading the testing instructions at 8 a.m., the official “clock” starts once we tell you to open your test booklets. This may mean the test could take you until 11:15 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. to finish.)
You’ll be notified in roughly 30 days regarding your certification status. If you pass the
After four days of intensive CDI work you'll need some R&R pool side.
examination, you are allowed to use the designation CCDS. Passing candidates will receive a certificate. If you do not pass the examination, you may schedule a reexamination appointment by contacting HCPro, Inc., at 800/650-6787.
If you’re not rushing off for your plane post test, we highly recommend you take some much needed celebratory relaxation time out by the pool. Put your feet up. You’ve just participated in a tremendous intellectual experience. So now’s the perfect time to start thinking about next year’s trip with the ACDIS crew. . . Ahhhh, Chicago!
ACDIS news makes ADVANCE headlines
ACDIS makes the news
ACDIS hasn’t hit the New York Times yet but the way the profession, and this association, are going we’ll make headlines in the mainstream media in no time.
For now, however, a big bowl of congratulatory recognition to our Director Brian Murphy, CPC, and Advisory Board Member Bill Haik, MD, director of DRG Review Inc., Fort Walton, FL, featured in Lynn Jusinski’s article “New Certification Unveiled: ACDIS introduces the certified clinical documentation specialist exam” published in the magazine ADVANCE for health information professionals.
I wondered where else our good name was popping up so I did a quick Google news search and found an article Mr. Murphy wrote in the journal For the Record in July 2008 titled “Organization Serves CDI Specialists’ Needs”.
From now on, whenever I find a mention of ACDIS or clinical documentation improvment programs on the World Wide Web, I’ll post them to our ACDIS groups on LinkedIn and Facebook.
New information on CCDS certification, Code of Ethics posted
Hi everyone, we’ve recently added some new informational Web pages on the upcoming Certified Clinical Documentation Specialist (CCDS) credential. You can find them here: www.cdiassociation.com/certification. The links to the pages are located along the top of the screen. I hope you find them helpful.
I also wanted to let you know about a few new developments regarding the CCDS:
1. We’ve received a lot of questions about the location of the Assessment Centers. To find the test center nearest you, visit the Applied Measurement Professionals Web site and click on your state when the map comes up. You will be able to take the CCDS exam at these Assessment Centers starting in mid-late June (for details on how to schedule a test at an Assessment Center, please see our Program Handbook). The Assessment Centers offer computerized testing and the results are instant.
2. We had to narrow down the “standard drug reference guide” that test-takers can bring into the exam to five specific titles. Please note that in addition to DRG Expert published by Ingenix, test-takers can bring one of the following five drug guides into the test with them:
- Mosby’s Nursing Drug Reference
- Nurse’s Pocket Drug Guide
- Physicians’ Desk Reference
- PDR Nurse’s Drug Handbook
- Nursing Drug Handbook /Lippincott’s
3. Finally, we are proud to note that we have launched an ACDIS Code of Ethics. This document is intended to serve as a guide for the professional behavior of ACDIS members and nonmembers who hold the CCDS credential. ACDIS is indebted to the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC), who allowed us to borrow from their organizations’ own Code of Ethics to help ACDIS construct its own.
You can read the ACDIS Code of Ethics here: http://www.hcpro.com/acdis/code_of_ethics.cfm.
Thanks, and as usual, your comments and questions are appreciated,
Brian
ACDIS conference tops 200 attendees
More than 200 customers raised their glasses in a toast to beat the world record for the number of
Number of ACDIS conference attendees tops 200. That's better attendance than one pub's attempts to top the wine-tasting world record. Go CDI!
participants in a synchronized wine-tasting session, on May 28, 2008, at the Blue Bell Inn, in Scunthorpe, England. Well, we’ve got Blue Bell wine-drinkers beat. Today, the number of ACDIS 2009 annual conference registrations topped 200! We had 202 participants sign up by the close of the day!
I’m not saying the ACDIS annual conference will be as much fun as a wine-tasting in England. . . Well, yes I am. It will probably be more fun than a wine-tasting in England. Not to disparrage the Blue Bell Inn, but we’re going to Las Vegas. And although we don’t have a wine-tasting planned we do have 200 (sorry, 202) clinical documentation improvement specialists all coming to learn the latest best practices for CDI administration, compliant and effective physician queries, techniques for detailed medical record review, incorporating core measures documentation, Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) defense. . . and if you want a glass of wine to toast your intellectual prowess you can meet me down at Caesar’s Seahorse Lounge.
CCDS exam handbook posted!
Hi everyone, questions have been coming fast and furious about the forthcoming certification and credential for CDI specialists, the certified clinical documentation specialist (CCDS). I am happy to say that we have completed the CCDS examination handbook. This document should answer all of your questions regarding
- the purpose of the credential
- eligibility requirements
- what to expect on the test, including a detailed content outline and sample questions
- how to apply for the test
- how to take the test at an Assessment Center
You can download the handbook by clicking here: http://www.hcpro.com/content/228297.pdf, or by visiting our certification page at www.cdiassociation.com/certification. You can expect more information on the certification in the coming weeks, including some brand-new informational web pages on the ACDIS Web site.
Thanks, and feel free to keep the questions coming,
Brian