Impact of a Clinical Documentation Integrity Program on Severity of Illness of Expired Patients.

Background: As payment models continue to move toward value-driven care, the quality of documentation has become more important than ever. Clinical Documentation Integrity (CDI) programs can aid in the documentation of diagnoses that are specific and consistent throughout the medical record, which leads to accurate code assignment, better understanding of patient complexity, and improved facility reimbursement.

Methods: An interrupted time series analysis was conducted by using a segmented regression model to estimate the impact of our hospital's CDI program on perceived patient complexity using severity of illness stratification, observed to expected mortality ratio and case-mix index.