A hospital proposes coder incentive pay based solely on increasing average CMI, with no concurrent quality or compliance controls. What ethical risk should leadership recognize?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
Pay that only rewards a bigger CMI is like tipping drivers only for speeding—you get what you pay for. Without quality guardrails, incentives can push unethical coding. Align rewards with accuracy, not just case-mix climb.
Full Explanation
AHIMA Standards of Ethical Coding warn against structures that create conflicts of interest favoring improper coding. Pure CMI-based incentives without accuracy, audit, and documentation controls can pressure staff toward unsupported upcoding. Ethical compensation design pairs productivity or case-mix goals with compliance and quality safeguards.