Medicare move spurs efforts to improve screening for pulmonary embolism

A growing number of hospitals are moving to do a better job of averting life-threatening clots: They are more carefully screening for potential risk factors including obesity, smoking, and a family history of clotting problems. They also are more closely following established guidelines for prevention. Helping to pressure hospitals to do a better job to prevent blood clots is a threat of reduced payments from Medicare, which last year began withholding payments for certain preventable occurrences.