Penny-wise, pound-foolish? Highmark Medicare Services' proposal for anticoagulation clinic reimbursement

Warfarin is prescribed to millions of Americans for the management of thromboembolism and is a common cause of adverse events. Optimizing warfarin therapy has been the focus of national quality improvement initiatives. Anticoagulation clinics have been demonstrated to result in better outcomes than usual care. Nevertheless, Highmark Medicare Services recently issued a provider bulletin on anticoagulation clinic visit reimbursement that we believe will adversely affect the care for patients on anticoagulation. In this commentary, we review the potential unintended consequences of this proposal and offer alternatives that we believe will increase the efficiency and quality of anticoagulation management.