Which is a primary use of the Clinical-Minimum Index (CMI)?

• A. Determining provider salaries
• B. Scheduling staff shifts
• C. Summarizing case mix intensity for risk adjustment, budgeting, and network planning
• D. Measuring patient satisfaction

Answer: (C)

The main idea behind the Clinical-Minimum Index is that it captures how intense the patient mix is in a population. The best use is to summarize that case-mix intensity for risk adjustment, budgeting, and network planning. By reflecting the expected resource use tied to the mix of diagnoses and severity, CMI helps adjust payments and risk scores to match the care needs, informs how much funding is needed to cover care for the population, and guides planning for staffing, capacity, and facilities based on anticipated demand. It's not a tool for setting provider salaries, scheduling individual shifts, or measuring patient satisfaction, which are handled through other processes.