Status Determination Skill
Screens inpatient/observation status decisions after the hospital has coded the patient but before claim submission—catching likely denials based on ICD-10 validation, documentation gaps, medical necessity alignment, and Two-Midnight Rule compliance.
Target Users: Hospital case managers, utilization review nurses, admitting physicians
Architecture
This skill uses a 2-step workflow with a clinical review checkpoint:
Step 1: Intake & Assessment ↓ (parse data, apply rubric, generate preliminary verdict) ↓ writes: waypoints/assessment.json [User Checkpoint: Review & Confirm] Step 2: Decision & Letter ↓ (capture reviewer input, generate report) ↓ writes: waypoints/decision.json ↓ writes: outputs/status-validation-report.md
Quick Start
- •Provide paths to the admission packet (ADT, labs, vitals, MDM note)
- •Run Step 1: Intake & Assessment
- •Review the checkpoint summary
- •Confirm agreement or provide override reasoning
- •Receive the Status Validation Report
Execution Flow
Startup: Check for Existing Assessment
Before starting, check if waypoints/assessment.json exists:
IF waypoints/assessment.json exists AND status = "assessment_complete": → Ask: "Found existing assessment for [MRN]. Resume from Step 2? (Y/N)" → If Y: Skip to Step 2 → If N: Start fresh from Step 1 ELSE: → Start from Step 1
Step 1: Intake & Assessment
Execute: Read and follow references/01-intake-assessment.md
Input: 4 data files (ADT, ORU labs, ORU vitals, MDM note)
Process:
- •Parse admission data from all sources
- •Validate ICD-10 codes using MCP tools
- •Assess Severity of Illness against rubric thresholds
- •Assess Intensity of Services requirements
- •Check Two-Midnight Rule compliance (Medicare)
- •Identify documentation gaps
- •Generate preliminary verdict (SUPPORTED / AT RISK / LIKELY DENIAL)
Output: waypoints/assessment.json
After Step 1: Display summary and ask: "Ready to proceed to Step 2: Clinical Review & Letter Generation? (Y/N)"
Step 2: Decision & Letter
Execute: Read and follow references/02-decision-letter.md
Input: waypoints/assessment.json
Process:
- •Display clinical review checkpoint with assessment summary
- •Ask reviewer: "Do you agree with this assessment? (Agree/Disagree)"
- •If Disagree: Capture reasoning, flag for escalation
- •Generate Status Validation Report using
assets/letter-template.md
Output:
- •
waypoints/decision.json - •
outputs/status-validation-report.md
Verdict Definitions
| Verdict | Meaning | Denial Risk | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| SUPPORTED | Evidence justifies status decision | LOW | Proceed to submission |
| AT RISK | Borderline — documentation gaps exist | MEDIUM | Strengthen documentation |
| LIKELY DENIAL | Evidence does not support status | HIGH | Change status or escalate |
Reference Files
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
| rubric.md | Clinical criteria thresholds for labs, vitals, MDM |
| tools.md | MCP tool integration patterns (ICD-10, CMS Coverage) |
| references/01-intake-assessment.md | Step 1 detailed workflow |
| references/02-decision-letter.md | Step 2 detailed workflow |
| assets/letter-template.md | Report template with placeholders |
Tool Dependencies
This skill integrates with:
- •
ICD10_Codes- Diagnosis code validation, hierarchy, specificity checks - •
CMS_Coverage- Medicare coverage policy lookup (optional)
Directory Structure
daisy-skill-1/
├── SKILL.md ← You are here (orchestrator)
├── rubric.md ← Clinical criteria thresholds
├── tools.md ← MCP tool integration
├── references/
│ ├── 01-intake-assessment.md ← Step 1 logic
│ └── 02-decision-letter.md ← Step 2 logic
├── waypoints/
│ ├── assessment.json ← Step 1 output (resume state)
│ └── decision.json ← Step 2 output
├── outputs/
│ └── status-validation-report.md ← Final report
├── assets/
│ └── letter-template.md ← Report template
├── sample-data/
│ ├── adt-a01-admission.json
│ ├── oru-r01-labs.json
│ ├── oru-vitals.json
│ └── mdm-t02-ed-note.json
└── examples/
└── case-001-sepsis-cap.md ← Reference output
Sample Usage
User: Run status determination on the sample data in sample-data/ Claude: 1. Loads sample-data/adt-a01-admission.json, oru-r01-labs.json, oru-vitals.json, mdm-t02-ed-note.json 2. Executes Step 1 (01-intake-assessment.md) 3. Writes waypoints/assessment.json 4. Displays checkpoint summary 5. User confirms agreement 6. Executes Step 2 (02-decision-letter.md) 7. Writes outputs/status-validation-report.md 8. Displays completion with verdict and action items