Prepare to be a Clinical Documentation Improvement Professional (CDIP). Get ready to sit for your CDI certification.

Our group of three continuing education courses will enhance your skills and better prepare you to sit for the exam.

Many hospitals and physician groups realize that Clinical Documentation Improvement (CDI) processes are critical to the overall health of the organization. Organizations must improve their documentation to stay in line with the changing reimbursement landscape, to accurately reflect the health of the population they serve, and to assist in the increased audits from payers and regulatory bodies.

These healthcare organizations look to healthcare professionals that are experts in documentation to help them achieve the highest level of accuracy in clinical documentation. The overall need for complete, accurate, and timely documentation from healthcare professionals is of the highest priority now.

Who are the healthcare organizations turning to for help? They are turning to those who hold the credential of Clinical Documentation Improvement (CDI) professionals.

Three, 10-week (for credit) online courses prepare you to sit for the CDIP exam

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) supports quality documentation and the integrity of the patient’s health record through gold-standard CDI education, training, and testing. Professionals who hold AHIMA’s CDIP credential show that they are:

  • Knowledgeable and competent in high-quality clinical documentation within patient health records
  • Leaders and role models in the health informatics and information management community
  • Highly proficient in capturing documentation necessary to communicate patients’ health status and conditions
  • Experts in the industry

A qualified professional can benefit from the CDIP certification in several ways, such as:

  • Improving earning potential
  • Opportunity for career advancement
  • Opportunity for professional connections

As technology has changed over the years and continues to change today in the use of Electronic Health Records (EHR), AHIMA offers the CDIP credential to demonstrate the holder’s expertise and compliance with documentation requirements relevant to coding and billing and EHR functionality and documentation capture. AHIMA confirms their commitment to providing the CDIP credential to help improve and maintain quality information and support the integrity of the patient’s medical record.

Eligibility

To review current eligibility requirements to sit for the CDIP exam, please visit AHIMA’s website.

About the Program

Saint Joseph’s College of Maine is an accredited Health Information Management Program through the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). Our 100% online Continuing Education Program consists of the critical courses that will prepare an eligible candidate the opportunity to sit for the exam to receive the credentials of Certified Documentation Improvement Practitioner (CDIP).

And for those wanting to pursue their degree further, these 3 courses can be transferred and applied towards our BS in Health Information Management degree.

Course Details

The following three, 3-credit courses are needed to complete this continuing education program. Courses are 10 weeks long and are offered most terms.

HIM 250 - ICD Coding (3 credits)
Discusses the historical perspective of ICD-10-CM as well as the ICD-10-CM coding conventions and highlights from the Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting. This course will utilize the draft ICD-10-CM manual to illustrate important highlights of chapter specific coding under ICD-10.  The course also discusses the ICD-10-PCS guidelines so students can apply any applicable rules for procedure code assignment, including correct code assignment for multiple procedures, approach procedures and inspection procedures. The student will also learn to categorize procedures by root operation and master the use of ICD-10-PCS tables.

HIM 260 - CPT Coding (3 credits)
Provides health information management students with the basic knowledge they need to recognize and assign CPT codes to real-world cases.  Students will also gain an understanding of why CPT codes are an important aspect of billing for healthcare services and reimbursement for services provided.

HIM 320 - Reimbursement Methodologies (3 credits)
Provides an understanding of the fundamental reimbursement concepts and methods of health care systems and describes the role of the manager, health information manager, and personnel.  Strategies for compliance are examined, as well as charge master management, case mix management, payment systems, a variety of payment or insurance plans, as well as the revenue cycle process.

Cost

$378/credit (total 9 credits $3402)

Learn More

Talk to an admissions counselor to learn more or apply for free today!

Online Admissions at Saint Joseph’s College
Call: 800-752-4723 | Text: 207-893-7841
Email: onlineadmissions@sjcme.edu

Office hours are Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:30pm ET, with additional evening hours available by appointment.