A Look at Subject Matter Expert Laurie Johnson

For the last 30-plus years, MedLearn has earned and maintained a reputation for reliability in the mercurial and unpredictable world of coding and compliance. In our mission to cut Non-Patient Outcome Spending (NPOS), we’ve sought out the top experts in the medical coding realm. With each of our books and webcasts, you can be certain that we’ve connected you to the best minds in the field. With that said, we decided to highlight the authors and contributors of our books.

Our trusted Essentials for Clinical Documentation Integrity book has been updated annually for several years, and provides insight into the critical role that clinical documentation plays in getting paid correctly and improving patient outcomes. The book includes plentiful amounts of helpful information including instruction, updated tables, and case studies. Not only is it a consistent source of valuable information for CDI professionals, but it has also been used as a textbook to teach the subject to nurses, coding staff, and physicians.

Our subject matter expert Laurie Johnson, MS, RHIA, FAHIMA, AHIMA, is the senior healthcare consultant at Revenue Cycle Solutions. Her career in Health Information Management (HIM) spans 35 years. She’s a well-known speaker at HIM conferences and a regular contributor to our sister site ICD10Monitor and their weekly broadcast, Talk Ten Tuesdays.

The CDI book was first conceived by another coding professional, but Ms. Johnson took the reins and has ensured its quality since then. Speaking of the original author, Ms. Johnson commented, “She had the vision that guidance was needed for clinical documentation integrity professionals.”

Don’t let “essentials” in the title Essentials for Clinical Documentation Integrity lead you to think it’s not comprehensive; the book covers a whole lot of ground, as is necessary for as broad a subject as CDI. It’s a subject that changes all the time and requires frequent revision. Leading the rigorous updating process each year Ms. Johnson commented, “The topics that are included are based on experienced coders’ input to what are the most frequently missed CC/MCCs.”

Asked how CDI has changed in recent years, she says, “CDI began as coders asking questions of physicians to assign the correct codes. Next it morphed into finding CCs/MCCs. The next change was moving into the outpatient world. Now, a sophisticated CDI program focuses on provider education, quality issues, and documentation concerns.” MedLearn is dedicated to continue to provide up-to-date material as the medical world continues to evolve, and CDI will remain integral to that mission.