CHICAGO – April 1, 2020 – With clinical documentation integrity (CDI) professionals playing a key role in efforts to “flatten the curve” of the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) has developed tools designed to ease administrative burdens during this difficult time.

AHIMA’s two new COVID-19 CDI query templates will help CDI professionals ensure the integrity and quality of a patient’s health record. With data being such an important element in the fight against COVID-19, the new templates provide a clear guideline of what critical data needs to be obtained to accurately document for the virus. The templates are similar to those CDI professionals use to document other diseases.

“I feel immense pride when I see the important work CDI professionals are doing during this pandemic,” said Wylecia Wiggs Harris, PhD, CAE, AHIMA CEO. “We believe these clear, concise, and compliant templates will make it easier for CDI professionals to document this virus, which in turn gives courageous medical providers more time to focus on patient care.”

The new templates are designed to capture high-quality documentation to support the continuum of care in this complicated healthcare environment. Clinical documentation integrity is critical during the pandemic because it can impact research efforts to curb COVID-19 and provides government and healthcare leaders with key information for their decision-making processes.

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About AHIMA
AHIMA is a global nonprofit association of health information (HI) professionals. AHIMA represents professionals who work with health data for more than one billion patient visits each year. AHIMA’s mission of empowering people to impact health drives our members and credentialed HI professionals to ensure that health information is accurate, complete, and available to patients and providers. Our leaders work at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and business, and are found in data integrity and information privacy job functions worldwide.