Clinical Clarity: Navigating Problem Lists and Defensible Narratives with Dr. Trey LaCharite’

If you’ve ever been a member of ACDIS you’ve almost certainly encountered Dr. Trey LaCharite’. ACDIS advisory board member? Check. Regular columnist for CDI Journal? Check. Author of the CDI Field Guide to Denial Prevention and Audit Defense? Check. Speaker at the physician advisor pre-conference every year since (at least) 2010? Yes, put a checkmark there, too. Trey is the Medical Director for CDI and Coding and Clinical Associate Professor for University of Tennessee Medical Center. He’s got the holy trinity of credentials—a MD, plus CCS and CCDS (and others). On this show he brings his unique clinical and coding perspective, combined with real-world applications and trademark tell it like it is/no-nonsense perspective, in a candid interview. Note: This show was recorded prior to the 2024 ACDIS conference in Indianapolis last week, where Trey presented the session “Beyond Problem Lists: How to Document Is Just as Important as the What.” On this show we discuss: • Trey’s path from hospitalist to CDI • Problem lists: How UTMCK uses them and keeps them updated • Denials and creating a “defendable narrative” using the patients’ clinical story • Trey’s opinion on sepsis-2 vs. sepsis-3, now back in the news due to the recent OIG Work List update • What ACTUALLY resonates with MDs, regarding the eternal question “what’s in it for me”? • CDI pet peeves, proudest career accomplishment, things to do in TN, and an unexpected OTR playlist addition