Mary Greeley Medical Center accelerates CDI performance with Solventum
Organization profile
The health system faced increasing patient volumes and a need to optimize its coding operations without expanding its full-time employee (FTE) base. Coders were spending time on repetitive tasks rather than applying their expertise, especially for simpler cases like ancillary services. At the same time, the health system observed that payer reimbursement rates were not keeping pace with inflation and rising operational expenses, adding financial pressure to improve efficiency. The organization sought a solution that could streamline coding, reduce manual effort and maintain accuracy.
Challenge: gaps and fragmentation
Despite its strong clinical reputation, MGMC’s leadership identified several performance gaps tied to clinical documentation integrity (CDI). The organization struggled with:
- Higher-than-expected length of stay (LOS) statistics compared to peers
- Lower case mix index (CMI) relative to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Iowa Hospital Association benchmarks
Extended LOS strained resources, staffing, supplies and beds, while reducing throughput and increasing operational costs. At the same time, documentation gaps limited the capture of severity of illness (SOI) and risk of mortality (ROM), impacting both financial performance and quality reporting. Further complicating matters, MGMC’s CDI program, although several years in, had become stagnant and outgrew its third party application. The program was also experiencing high staff turnover and fragmented workflows.
Solution
To address these issues, leadership sought a partner to:
Process, timeline and impact
Developing distinctive CDI
MGMC partnered with Solventum to launch a five-year engagement plan centered on the Solventum ACT program. Supported by Solventum 360 Encompass, Solventum PDM and Solventum PAS, the strategy focused on building CDI excellence and empowering program transformation.
Technology and data insights
Implementing Solventum 360 Encompass created a unified foundation for CDI and coding, enabling concurrent reviews and real-time documentation optimization. Solventum PDM delivered timely visibility into case mix index (CMI), SOI/ROM, and diagnosis related group (DRG) capture opportunities, empowering MGMC to benchmark against national and peer groups and cohorts using Solventum™ Client Comparative Benchmarks, while surfacing missed financial and quality opportunities.
Process redesign and staffing changes
Solventum consultants partnered with MGMC leadership to reframe CDI operations. The department experienced some turnover when one clinical documentation specialist (CDS) retired and two others received promotions. To fill the gap, they hired one CDS but still had two open positions. MGMC went from the CDSs reporting to the quality team to three CDSs reporting into HIM, ensuring stronger alignment with coding. Workflows were redesigned to emphasize shared accountability, with ongoing reporting and mortality review processes built-in to sustain progress.
Building capability through education
Education and training were the cornerstone of MGMC’s transformation, with new staff creating a great opportunity to revamp the CDI program.
Solventum provided:
Chart-based training
A 100-chart review identified documentation gaps, which informed the development of a tailored training plan addressing those areas of improvement.
Physician engagement
Solventum introduced physician-to-physician (P2P) education, pairing physician consultants with peers to deliver specialty-specific guidance using real MGMC cases.
Inpatient CDI and coding education
Two weeks of interactive, major diagnostic category (MDC) based training with specific condition and case examples, aligned CDI and coding staff.
Follow-up training
Regular 25-chart reviews reinforced lessons learned and created an ongoing cycle of education and accountability.
Quality education
A focused week of quality education covering value-based purchasing, HACs, PSIs, PPRs/PPCs, HCCs, and proper patient placement for CDI, coding, and quality teams.
Transform your CDI program with confidence
See how the right combination of technology, expertise, and shared accountability can drive measurable quality and financial improvement—just as it did for Mary Greeley Medical Center.