An unanswered clinically significant query should be managed through the organization's defined escalation process. The process may involve CDI leadership, coding leadership, a physician advisor, department leadership, or other designated personnel, depending on organizational policy.
Neither CDI nor coding may independently supply the missing diagnosis because diagnostic conclusions remain the provider's responsibility. Removing an unresolved query simply to accelerate billing can undermine documentation integrity and may create compliance problems.
Escalation policies should be standardized rather than applied only when a particular diagnosis affects reimbursement. Policies commonly address expected response time, reminder intervals, responsible escalation personnel, high-priority queries, retrospective queries, and final-bill procedures.
The 2026 ACDIS/AHIMA Guidelines for Achieving a Compliant Query Practice supersede prior versions and serve as the current foundational guidance for organizations establishing compliant query policies and procedures.
A mature escalation process balances timely claim completion with respect for provider workload and independent clinical judgment. Its purpose is obtaining complete and accurate documentation, not forcing agreement with a CDI-generated diagnosis.
CCDS Reference Topics: Query escalation; organizational policy; unanswered queries; compliance; provider responsibility.
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