Director, Clinical Documentation Integrity

University of Miami; United States; Remote; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Miami Health System is seeking a Director of Clinical Documentation Improvement to lead system-wide CDI initiatives, develop annual workplans, and report progress to senior leadership. The role emphasizes collaboration with physicians, coding, and quality teams to ensure accurate reflection of patient status and care.

The position requires advanced CDI expertise, education program development, and ongoing staff mentoring.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration, Health Information Management, Informatics, Nursing, Leadership, Education, or related field; Master’s degree preferred.
• Current FL RN License; FMG (MD) with extensive clinical and CDI experience will be considered.
• Certifications: CCDS, CDIP, CPC or CCS preferred.

Responsibilities

• Identify CDI issues and collaborate with physicians, nurses, coding, and others to resolve independently.
• Mentor and educate CDI team; support ongoing competency development.
• Develop onboarding and department orientation programs and CDI education.
• Ensure compliance with quality standards and regulatory guidelines.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring

Educational outreach

Clinical documentation improvement

Collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration, Health Information Management, Informatics, Nursing, Leadership, Education, or related field

Job description

The Director, Clinical Documentation Improvement is responsible for progress towards goals and objectives for the Health System’s Clinical Documentation Improvement program, in collaboration and as directed by the Clinical Documentation leadership team. Based on System-wide initiatives and hospital goals will develop annual CDI workplans and report completed activities to CMO, CNO, CFO and Quality leaders. Annually review the Clinical Documentation program to ensure compliance to state and regulatory guidelines. Participates in and actively supports development and enhancement of clinical documentation, integrity practice with emphasis on quality monitoring, management of on-going competencies for Clinical Documentation Specialists, identification of programmatic opportunities for growth and improvement. This individual provides educational support to the systemwide clinical documentation improvement team to improve accuracy and quality in patient’s medical record and to ensure that diagnoses are an accurate reflection of the patient’s clinical status and care. The Director, CDI is responsible for providing new hire orientation, mentoring, and on-going education to the CDI team, as well as to provide specialty-specific education to physicians and targeted service lines. This individual will serve as a subject matter expert in CDI and provider engagement and reports to the AVP, Clinical Care Transformation.

Responsibilities

1. 1. Identify Clinical Documentation improvement issues and foster excellent communication with physicians, nurses, coding, and other members of the health care team to be able to work independently to resolve such issues.
2. 2. Assists CDI team with educational needs, problem resolution, time management, and critical thinking skills development.
3. 3. Implements clinical skills activities within established clinical and preceptorship models, monitors data trends, and implements educational strategies to ensure compliance with quality standards.
4. 4. Collaborates with the Professional Development Department to develop and provide new hire CDI onboarding and department specific orientation program and competencies for new CDI Specialists, as well as educational programs to address and enhance the CDI team performance.
5. 5. Maintains all department training materials, tools and/or records.
6. 6. Develops and maintains department’s web-based collaborative platforms with education topics, performance outcomes by facility and key areas for CDI. Develops and publishes and maintains quarterly department newsletter.
7. 7. Performs quality documentation audits, including chart review and query compliance of patient records, to ensure CDI Specialists and providers are compliant with applicable rules and regulations.
8. 8. Provides mentoring and ongoing feedback to the CDI Team.
9. 9. Engages physicians/providers on CDI topics and attends monthly service line meetings.
10. 10. Develops and presents key CDI topics at all service line meetings.
11. 11. Monitors CDI performance and tracks CDI team knowledge through bi-annual assessment tests.
12. 12. Develops and maintains CDI assessment tests and develops education around topics missed.
13. 13. Provides education to the CDI team related to the annual regulatory updates and changes.
14. 14. Collaborates with Leadership and Medical Directors in the development and delivery of specialty specific education to physicians, departments, and specialties.
15. 15. Evaluates second level review audits for areas of opportunity and develop education sessions to enhance the CDI team performance and/or physician documentation, both as a group and individually to ensure CDI success (IRR).
16. 16. Represents the CDI team at various meetings as a clinical documentation improvement subject matter expert.
17. 17. Coordinates with other departments (e.g., Coding/Quality/Care Management) regarding CDI initiatives to ensure efforts are synchronized, consistent, and effective.
18. 18. Participates in performance improvement activities related to the operational processes for the Documentation Improvement Team, as well as related organizational/departmental goals.
19. 19. Develops collaborative relationships and promotes teamwork with co-workers, physicians and other departments.
20. 20. Collaborates with external CDI consultants to determine any education gaps or opportunities identified via external reporting, internal reporting, chart reviews, etc.
21. 21. Incorporates protocols and standards of care into daily practice. Uses sound judgement, decision making criteria, and available resources for drawing conclusions and taking required action when teaching staff. Applies evidence-based practices and approaches, and solves problems using creativity and flexibility.
22. 22. Conducts initial and follow-up concurrent reviews on targeted admissions for opportunities to clarify documentation in the medical record for accurate reflection of the acuity of the patient and justifying the level of care.
23. 23. Coordinates with coding, HIM, Care Management, and other departments to achieve a record that reflects the acuity of the patient and level of care provided.
24. 24. Reviews medical record concurrently for documentation not yet in the record but supported by clinical indicators.
25. 25. Performs a thorough chart review to identify co-morbidities/complications, and documents these appropriately within the concurrent CDS worksheet. Discusses the appropriate principal diagnosis of the patient with the providers.
26. 26. Displays leadership and accountability, serving as coach and role model and giving regular constructive feedback.
27. 27. Communicates effectively, timely and in an open and honest manner, sharing knowledge and skills with colleagues and others.
28. 28. Displays mental and emotional effort required to function effectively in an environment with multiple and fluctuating priorities. Demonstrates professionalism, tact and diplomacy required for communication with providers, ancillary and nursing departments, facility, department, and administrative leaders.
29. 29. Promotes continuous improvement of workplace safety and environmental practices.
30. 30. Ensures compliance with all institutional policies and procedures including mandatory in-service employee health procedures, federal, state, regulatory and accrediting agencies standards.
31. 31. Maintains professional knowledge by affiliating with professional and technical organizations, and participating in applicable continuing education programs, conferences, seminars, and workshops.
32. 32. Adheres to University and unit-level policies and procedures and safeguards University assets. This list of duties and responsibilities is not intended to be all-inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties or responsibilities as necessary.

Education

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration, Health Information Management, Informatics, Nursing, Leadership, Education, or related field; Master’s degree is highly preferred. Graduate degree preferred; Current FL RN License; FMG (MD) with extensive clinical and CDI experience will be considered. Must maintain current one of the following: Certified Documentation Specialist (CCDS); Clinical Documentation Improvement Professional (CDIP). Certified Professional Coder (CPC); Certified Coding Specialist (CCS).

Experience

Experience: Five (5) years of clinical experience in hospital setting; prior CDI experience required. Thorough knowledge of ICD-9-CM, ICD-10-CM/PCS, APR DRG and MS DRG, Mortality, PSI and HAC required.

Compensation and Benefits

The University of Miami offers competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, tuition remission and more.

About the University of Miami

UHealth-University of Miami Health System, South Florida's only university-based health system, provides leading-edge patient care powered by the ground breaking research and medical education at the Miller School of Medicine. As an academic medical center, we are proud to serve South Florida, Latin America and the Caribbean. Our physicians represent more than 100 specialties and sub-specialties and have more than one million patient encounters each year. Our tradition of excellence has earned worldwide recognition for outstanding teaching, research and patient care. We’re the challenge you’ve been looking for. The University of Miami is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants and employees are protected from discrimination based on certain categories protected by Federal law.

The University of Miami is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants and employees are protected from discrimination based on certain categories protected by Federal law.