The challenges plaguing the healthcare industry are no secret: an ongoing talent shortage, financial pressures on healthcare leaders, and a significant increase in demand for patient care, to name a few. The challenges extend to the industry’s clinical documentation improvement (CDI) workforce, where the persistent shortage is particularly troublesome, as a lack of CDI talent impacts quality of patient care, financial stability of the organization, and overall operational efficiency. This CDI skills gap manifests itself in two ways: an overall shortfall in headcount and a shortage of skills in the available workforce. Overcoming the two-headed challenge requires a clear understanding of the CDI skills gap, how to identify your team’s skills gap, and ways to address it.
Understanding the CDI Skills Gap
When a workforce lacks the competencies to meet current and long-term demands of an industry, that’s a skills gap. In the CDI context, this encompasses technical and soft skills of the talent available.
Technical skills are the cornerstone of a successful CDI team: proficiency in coding, clinical terminology, and CDI software; knowledge and proficiency in automation software and AI; and a solid grasp of documentation requirements, among others. Together, these skills enable CDI professionals to accurately capture patient information, ensuring that the medical record reflects the patient’s health and medical history, including precise records of diagnoses, medications, tests, treatments, and other elements of a patient’s care.
Soft skills, though often overlooked, hold equal importance in CDI. Effective communication is paramount as CDI teams interact with various healthcare providers, including physicians, nurses, and other members of the care team. This cross-departmental communication — professional bilingualism, if you will — means CDI professionals understand the technical side, including coding but can also speak the clinical language, bridging the gap between the two.
Just as important, collaboration is essential to gather accurate and complete patient information, often involving interactions with different departments of the healthcare organization. Problem-solving and critical thinking skills come into play when CDI professionals encounter discrepancies or unclear documentation. They must analyze available information, identify potential issues, and work toward resolving them. When CDI teams and physicians work together, they can ensure documentation accuracy, reduce compliance-related audits and penalties, and pave the way to better outcomes and efficient, accurate reimbursement.
How to Spot a Skills Gap in Your Organization
How do you know if your organization suffers from a CDI skills gap? You’ll have to ask yourself some key questions to figure that out:
Would my CDI department’s performance improve with more highly qualified staff? Consider specific instances where your team encountered challenges due to inadequate skills or knowledge. This could include times when your CDI professionals misinterpreted clinical terminology, failed to follow coding guidelines, or did not meet documentation requirements.
Where does my team encounter the most difficulties — is it with clinical terminology, coding guidelines, or documentation requirements? By understanding the specific areas of weakness, you can tailor your strategies to address them effectively. It’s essential your CDI team has proficiency in all three of these areas.
Are the primary challenges in my department related to skill set, headcount, or technology? Skill set challenges refer to the lack of necessary knowledge or expertise among your team members. Headcount challenges occur when you have an insufficient number of staff to handle the workload effectively. Technology challenges arise when you have outdated or inadequate systems that hinder your team’s ability to complete tasks.
Answering these questions honestly will highlight areas of improvement and inform your strategic planning. This will serve as the foundation for developing a strategic plan that targets your challenges and guides your efforts to enhance your team’s skills and capabilities.
Challenges in Addressing the Skills Gap
Several ongoing challenges are exacerbating the CDI skills gap, including:
Limited supply of certified professionals: The supply of certified clinical documentation specialists (CCDSs) and certified documentation improvement practitioners (CDIPs) is severely limited, mirroring the shortage of skilled talent across the entire healthcare landscape. In the United States, there are only about 6,800 C$CDSs, according to the Association of Clinical Documentation Integrity Specialists, and 2,469 CDIPs, according to the American Health Information Management Association. Demand for CCDSs, CDIPs, and other medical records specialists is expected to remain high, increasing 9% through 2033. This scarcity makes recruitment challenging.
Recruitment and retention challenges: Competition for CDI professionals is fierce and is only going to intensify — the CDI market size of $4.2 billion in 2023 is expected to reach $7.2 billion in 2032. Geographic constraints and remote work limitations complicate recruitment, as organizations face difficulty attracting candidates from diverse locations or who prefer remote working arrangements. The stubbornly high number of openings also reflects a retention challenge. Many openings become available because of an exodus of CDI professionals from the industry or retirements. The shortage can stress your existing team and increase time to fulfill CDI tasks.
Lack of internal training and professional development: Many organizations lack resources for on-the-job training and skills enhancement and instead rely on external certification programs. While beneficial, this may not fully address the needs and challenges of all clinical settings. In some instances, healthcare organizations may not have enough internal expertise to provide effective training and development for CDI staff. This can make it difficult for individuals to learn the skills and knowledge to be successful in their roles. The absence of training and upskilling can hinder an organization’s growth and retention of CDI professionals.
Strategies for Bridging the Gap
In light of these ongoing challenges, healthcare organizations must proactively address the CDI skills gap using targeted strategies and initiatives:
Invest in Training and Development
- Establish comprehensive in-house training programs tailored to CDI requirements.
- Collaborate with external organizations and institutions to offer certification programs, workshops, and seminars for CDI professionals.
- Foster a culture of continuous learning by encouraging CDI staff to actively engage in professional development opportunities, such as webinars, conferences, and online courses.
- Provide mentoring and coaching programs to support new CDI professionals and facilitate knowledge transfer from experienced team members.
Leverage Technology
- Utilize technology tools, such as cloud-based platforms and secure messaging systems, to enhance collaboration and communication among CDI team members, coders, physicians, and other healthcare professionals.
- Implement remote work and hybrid work models to expand the talent pool and attract skilled professionals from diverse geographic locations.
- Ensure remote workers have access to necessary equipment, software, and secure VPN connections to maintain patient data privacy and compliance.
Foster a Collaborative Culture
- Promote teamwork and encourage open communication between CDI staff, coders, and physicians to ensure accurate and timely coding.
- Establish clear expectations and roles for each team member, including responsibilities, workflows, and communication channels.
- Create a supportive and inclusive work environment that values diversity, fosters trust, and recognizes the contributions of each individual.
- Regularly organize team-building activities and social events to strengthen relationships and foster a sense of community.
Consider External Partnerships
- Partner with specialized CDI staffing firms like Medix to supplement internal CDI teams with skilled professionals on a contractual or project basis.
- Collaborate with educational institutions to develop specialized CDI programs and courses, ensuring a steady pipeline of qualified professionals entering the field.
- Explore outsourcing opportunities for specific CDI functions to external vendors or service providers, allowing organizations to focus on core competencies.
Start Bridging Your Skills Gap
The CDI skills gap poses a significant challenge to healthcare organizations, but it’s not insurmountable. By understanding the intricacies of the gap, acknowledging the challenges, and implementing proactive strategies, you can revolutionize your CDI program. Investing in your CDI workforce not only improves the quality of patient care and financial outcomes but also positions your organization for long-term success.
Close Your Skills Gap With Medix As Your Staffing Partner
By partnering with Medix, you can gain access to a pool of highly qualified CDI professionals who can help you overcome the skills gap and achieve your goals. Our recruiting teams have 20+ years of experience in CDI. We understand every organization has unique goals, so we tailor our services to meet your specific needs. Contact us now to start building your CDI team and close your skills gap.
