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hardScenarioCase StudySeniorStaffLead

Your coded case mix has drifted upwards over two quarters. How do you tell better documentation from upcoding?

6 min readUpdated 2026-08-15

Answer

Short answer

Only the record can settle it. Rule out mix, population and grouper changes, then run a blind re-code of a stratified sample, report disagreement rate and direction, attribute each disagreement to coder, documentation, template or incentive, and fix the cause rather than the codes.

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Likely follow-ups

  • Peer benchmarking shows you above the distribution for one code. What does that entitle you to conclude?
  • How should a documentation-improvement query be worded, and what makes one indefensible?
  • You confirm overpayment on a sample. What obligations does that discovery create, and what do you do about the population you did not sample?
  • How would you set up a coder quality programme that does not simply push everyone towards the middle of the distribution?

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