ACDIS Announces New Outpatient Clinical Documentation Improvement Certification

Middleton, MA (PRWEB) The Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists (ACDIS), a 5,700-member national association for clinical documentation improvement (CDI) specialists headquartered in Middleton, MA, has begun the development of a new certification in outpatient clinical documentation improvement.

Since 2009, ACDIS has hosted the Certified Clinical Documentation Specialist (CCDS) certification program, which has grown to approximately 4,000 CCDS-certified CDI professionals nationwide. The content domains of the CCDS exam pertain to acute-care inpatients. The Certified Clinical Documentation Specialist-Outpatient, or CCDS-O, will provide a trusted baseline of competency for CDI in the outpatient setting, which includes physician practices, hospital clinics, and the emergency department, among other settings.

The CCDS-O is being developed to accommodate the rapid expansion of outpatient CDI, driven by the growth of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), Medicare Advantage, and care increasingly delivered in outpatient settings.

“The CDI profession has evolved tremendously over the last 6-8 years to encompass hospital quality measures and now the outpatient setting,” said ACDIS Director Brian Murphy. “With the corresponding need to capture an accurate record of patient care in the outpatient setting, the CCDS-O will serve as a foundation for the development of baseline practice standards, and a recognizable symbol of excellence for CDI professionals.”

ACDIS assembled a 12-member CCDS-O certification committee to develop the certification prerequisites, content outline, and exam. These include CDI professionals with significant experience working in successful outpatient CDI departments around the country, including Wake Forest Baptist Health, Novant Health, Ochsner Health System, Essentia Health, and the Mayo Clinic, as well as educators, consultants, and subject matter experts who have provided outpatient CDI education and implemented programs nationwide.

The goal of the CCDS-O program is to develop a mark of excellence. The certification program will also spur the development of core competencies for outpatient CDI professionals and encourage the development and standardization of national best practices for outpatient CDI departments.

The CCDS-O exam is expected to debut in nationwide testing centers in November 2018. 
To learn more about ACDIS, please visit http://www.acdis.org. To learn more about the CCDS-O certification, contact ACDIS Director Brian Murphy at bmurphy@acdis.org.

For more information about ACDIS and its offerings, please visit http://www.acdis.org or call 877-240-6586.

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