ACDIS CCDS study plan

Diagram the inpatient payment pathway from discharge through MS-DRG assignment, including the role of the principal diagnosis, CC/MCCs, and the grouper

Differentiate MS-DRG, APR-DRG, and the outpatient APC/OPPS frameworks, and state which care settings use each

Compute adjusted inpatient payment for 10 scenarios using base rate, wage index, IME, DSH/UC, and outlier adjustments

Explain the two-midnight rule, inpatient certification requirements, and observation status, and identify the documentation implications of each

Assemble a glossary of 30 reimbursement terms with a one-line definition and a note on how each shows up in chart review

Label anatomy and physiology for the body systems behind the highest-volume MS-DRGs: cardiac, pulmonary, neurologic, renal, GI, and endocrine

Trace pathophysiology and typical clinical findings for heart failure, COPD, sepsis, CKD, diabetes with complications, and pneumonia

Match 40 commonly seen inpatient drugs to drug class, indication, and the adverse effect most likely to be documented

Correlate lab and imaging findings to clinical indicators used as severity-of-illness support in query writing

Distinguish a principal diagnosis, a comorbid condition, and a major comorbid condition using clinical criteria rather than habit

Identify the required components of a history and physical, discharge summary, consult note, and operative report, and flag which components are missing

Separate findings that are explicitly documented from findings that are merely implied, inferred, or carried forward from a prior note

Extract query-worthy documentation gaps from 12 practice chart excerpts without proposing a diagnosis in the extraction step

Evaluate diagnoses for specificity, acuity, and clinical validation using stated criteria

Reconcile conflicting documentation across the admission note, progress notes, and discharge summary and record the discrepancy

Apply ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS Official Guidelines to select the principal diagnosis in 15 practice inpatient cases

Apply UHDDS definitions to distinguish principal from secondary diagnoses, and sequence diagnoses per coding conventions

Identify the CMS inpatient regulations that constrain CDI practice: the two-midnight rule, physician certification and recertification, and DRG validation expectations

Explain how the DRG validation and recovery audit processes flow back to documentation and queries

Construct the rationale text for each code assignment in a practice case, not just the code

Compose queries that contain the issue, clinical indicators, documentation options, and a direction to the provider

Apply compliant query practice by writing non-leading, non-directive queries for 15 clinical scenarios

Rewrite 10 non-compliant or leading queries into compliant versions and annotate what changed

Select the appropriate query type - multiple choice, open-ended, or yes/no - for a given documentation gap and defend the choice

Format a query in a way that supports the provider in answering within one exchange

Design a 20-minute provider education module on one documentation topic, built around the facility's own gap data rather than generic advice

Deliver the education module to a colleague or study partner and capture feedback in writing

Define the core CDI metrics, including case mix index, CC/MCC capture rate, query rate, query response rate, and DRG change rate, with formulas

Describe the elements of a CDI program's compliance infrastructure: query policies, query retention, physician advisor escalation, and audit trail

Differentiate a compliant CDI program from one that drives upcode behavior, and give a concrete example of each

Calculate six CDI metrics from a 30-record practice sample using the formulas defined in week 6

Interpret the variance in each metric and write a stated root cause for the largest two gaps

Identify the compliance and audit risk areas that a CDI program is most likely to be cited for

Draft a quarterly CDI audit plan covering sample size, scope, reviewer, and escalation path

Benchmark the practice sample's results against published industry ranges and explain any gap between them

Complete two timed full-length practice exams under exam conditions

Classify every missed item by domain and root cause - knowledge gap, misread item, or process error

Re-study only the two weakest domains using the root-cause log rather than a full re-read

Recite the compliant query elements and the CDI metric formulas from memory without notes

Build a one-page exam-day reference sheet limited to items you missed at least twice