Become a Certified Documentation Expert for Outpatient (CDEO^®)

Course Summary

The CDEO^® program is recommended for a certified coder, medical record auditor or clinical documentation improvement professional who has experience reviewing documentation for outpatient services and extensive knowledge of coding and quality measure reporting. Clinical documentation improvement involves compliance to documentation requirements and effective communication with providers to improve documentation.

The course is approximately 20 hours and will cover the following competency areas:

• Requirements of a Clinical Document
• Benefits of CDI
• Best Practices of CDI
• Review of Documentation Requirements
• Use of EMR templates
• Documentation to support billing and coding
• Documentation requirements for ancillary services
• Documentation requirements for procedures
• Physician communication and compliance
• Review of quality measure
• Overview of payment models (RVU, NCCI, Global Days)
• Review of HCC models and RAF scoring
• Understanding new payment models (MACRA)
• Understanding bundled payment models
• Procedure coding for evaluation and management
• Documentation Guidelines and coding for clinical conditions
  • Congenital versus acquired conditions (General)
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Sepsis
  • Neoplasms
  • Adjuvant therapy
  • Active versus history of neoplasm
  • Metastatic
  • Anemia polycythemia
  • Diabetes
  • Malnutrition
  • Morbid obesity and BMI
  • Drug Dependence
  • Major Depression
  • Epilepsy
  • Neuropathy
  • Parkinson's disease
  • Common conditions of the ear
  • Aortic aneurysm
  • Aortic stenosis/sclerosis
  • CAD
  • Cardiomyopathy
  • Cardiac conduction conditions
  • CVA vs. TIA
  • Deep Vein Thrombosis

  • Heart failure
  • Hemiplegia
  • Hypertension
  • Hypoxia
  • Myocardial infarction
  • Peripheral vascular disease
  • Venous stasis ulcers
  • COPD
  • Pneumonia
  • Crohn's disease
  • Cirrhosis
  • Pressure ulcers
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Pathological osteoporosis fractures
  • Chronic Kidney Disease
  • Common conditions in pregnancy
  • Common conditions in the perinatal period
  • Burns
  • Fractures
  • Head injury
  • Amputation
  • Artificial openings
  • Transplant status

Once students have completed the competency training, they will have the necessary skills and knowledge to challenge the certification exams. Successfully passing this exam, students will be awarded the CDEO^® credential.

Available Training Options

Online - Self Paced

The online self-paced course is designed for students who want complete flexibility to follow their own schedule and study independently. AAPC coaches will be available to answer questions via email or chat. Students will need access to a computer with reliable high-speed internet.

Students will have access to the course for 4 months.

Classroom

Unfortunately, classroom courses for the CDEO^® are currently unavailable at our international locations. Please check back later.

Requirements

While there is no experience requirement, we strongly recommend that the candidate have at least two years of experience in clinical documentation improvement. This is a difficult, high-level examination which is not meant for individuals with little, limited or no clinical documentation improvement.

Required Course Materials

Students will need the following medical coding books for the CDEO^® Preparation Course:

• AMA's CPT^® Professional (current course year)
• ICD-10-CM (current course year)
• HCPCS Level II (current course year)

Any other materials such as workbooks or study guides will be included with the course.

Computer Access

Students will need access to a computer and reliable high-speed internet.
Students taking a virtual class, should also have a built-in or external web-cam.