Penalties based on number of VTEs unfairly imposed

Editor's Note

After a review of 128 case histories, Johns Hopkins researchers find that financial penalties imposed by federal and state agencies on Maryland hospitals based solely on the total number of patients who suffer venous thromboemboli (VTEs) fail to account for those that occur despite the consistent and proper use of the best preventive measures.

The researchers note that even with the use of anticoagulants and other best practices, some patients still develop VTEs. They argue that a better measure would be to not only look at total numbers, but to track whether patients at risk for VTEs are given anticoagulants appropriately.

1Division of Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 2Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 3Department of Emergency Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 4Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns