Inpatient CDI Physician Advisor

Catholic Health; Melville (NY); Hybrid; USD 190,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Catholic Health seeks an Inpatient CDI Physician Advisor to strengthen physician engagement and education around documentation to accurately reflect patient acuity and quality outcomes. This role partners with CDI/Coding teams and medical staff to optimize coding accuracy and hospital metrics.

The position is hybrid, requiring on-site time each week, and focuses on provider education, collaboration with CDI leadership, and driving documentation improvements across departments.

Qualifications

• Licensed physician with 7+ years in acute care.
• Ability to educate, counsel and advise peers.
• Strong communication and problem-solving skills.
• Proficient with technology and clinical documentation tools.
• Understanding of coding rules and regulations.

Responsibilities

• Lead education and outreach with the medical staff.
• Coordinate with CDI Directors and educators to improve documentation accuracy.
• Explain the impact of queries on mortality, LOS, and medical necessity.
• Hold meetings with physicians to address opportunities and provide feedback.
• Tailor content to provider groups; present CDI metrics to drive changes.
• Act as liaison between providers and CDI/Coding teams.
• Regularly review documentation opportunities with CDI leadership.

Skills

Clinical experience

Leadership collaboration

Education & counseling

Communication skills

Data interpretation

Tech proficiency

Organization

Problem solving

Teamwork

Education

MD/DO licensed physician

Tools

CDI systems

Job description

The Inpatient CDI Physician Advisor will serve as a liaison and champion with the medical staff for complete and accurate documentation to support accurate reflection of patient acuity, severity of illness, risk of mortality, and quality of care. The Physician Advisor will act as a liaison between the Inpatient CDI/Coding teams and medical providers. The Physician Advisor will support the organizational initiatives of accurate quality outcomes and the proper reflection of the high quality of care as evaluated through severity adjusted quality measures.

This is a hybrid position and will require time on site each week.

Job Responsibilities

• Serve as a leader in the education and outreach with the medical staff to build understanding and support for the CDI program and how it benefits the medical staff
• Partner with CDI Directors, CDI Assistant Directors, and CDI Educators in the development, coordination, and presentation of provider education to improve the accuracy of documentation and the quality of patient care reported, severity of illness, risk of mortality, medical necessity and other documentation related outcomes
• Share key clinical documentation concepts and their importance for the hospitals and individual providers
• Explaining why a query was placed, and highlighting the impact on key indicators such as expected mortality and expected length of stay
• Hold one-on-one meetings with physicians to address areas of opportunity and respond to questions, providing feedback and education for medical staff on opportunities for documentation improvement
• Tailor education content and messaging to specific provider groups and specialties
• Include key CDI metrics and actionable data in provider education sessions to drive behavior change and gain buy in
• Serve as liaison between providers and the CDI/Coding teams to address areas of opportunity and questions
• Meet regularly with CDI System Director, CDI Directors, CDI Assistant Directors, CDI Educators, and Clinical Documentation Specialists (CDS) staff to understand current documentation opportunities and to integrate those opportunities into outreach and education efforts with the medical staff
• Partner with CDI Directors, CDI Assistant Directors, and CDI Educators to provide ongoing clinical education to Inpatient CDS and coding staff to assist in the ongoing growth of the team
• Review cases escalated by Inpatient CDI and Coding teamsParticipate in unanswered query escalation process by following up with physicians electronically and in-person to assist in obtaining query responses
• Serve as a subject matter expert and resource on interpretation and application of clinical practice and documentation strategies
• Collaborate with providers and medical staff leadership to create consistent definitions and documentation around complex conditions, as needed
• Regularly review key process and outcomes metrics related to the CDI ProgramReview key process metrics: provider response rates, agree rates, response times, query trends, among others
• Develop action plans for non-responsive providers or providers with high disagreement rates or response times
• Review key outcomes metrics: outcomes of escalated cases, medical and surgical comorbidity rates, capture rates for DRG triplets and pairs, most appropriate principal diagnosis selection trends, acuity for expired patients or patients discharged to hospice, expected mortality rate, observed to expected mortality ratio, among others
• Collaborate with CDI Program leadership in meeting with CMOs, Chairs, and Program Directors to provide updates on the CDI program, impact on quality outcome data, and strategies for ongoing improvement
• Develop and participate in recognition process for providers that have made significant positive impacts to the program
• Support organizational quality goals and objectives through CDI improvements

Required Qualifications

• Extensive clinical knowledge; at least 7 years as a practicing, licensed physician in the acute care setting
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with organizational leadership and executives
• Ability and willingness to educate, counsel and advise peers
• Demonstrates approachability and maintaining the respect of peers
• Ability to strategize, plan and implement change
• Self-motivated with ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Organized with attention to detail
• Excellent communication, and problem-solving skills
• Ability to interpret data and outcome metrics
• Proficient with technology and programs integral to clinical documentation
• Demonstrates understanding of CHS-LI’s culture and organizational goals
• Willingness to gain a working knowledge of coding rules and regulations
• Has genuine interest in CDI and an understanding of its impact on patient care, quality outcomes, and health system performance