What Does Venous Thromboembolism Mean in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program? Katherine L. Florecki, MD, a Oluwafemi P. Owodunni, MD, MPH, a Mujan Varasteh Kia, MPH, a Marvin C. Borja, MD, b Christine G. Holzmueller, BLA, c Brandyn D. Lau, MPH, CPH, c,d,e,f Martin Paul, MD, g Michael B. Streiff, MD, FACP, c,h and Elliott R. Haut, MD, PhD, FACS a,b,c,f,i,j, * a Division of Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland b The Johns Hopkins Surgery Center for Outcomes Research, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland c The Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland d Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland e Division of Health Sciences Informatics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland f Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland g Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland h Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland i Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland j Department of Emergency Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland article info Article history: Received 1 August 2019 Received in revised form 10 December 2019 Accepted 5 January 2020 Available online xxx abstract Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) affects an estimated 350,000 to 600,000 in- dividuals and causes approximately 100,000 deaths annually in the United States. Post- operative VTE is a core measure reported by The American College of Surgeons’ National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP). The objective of this research was to assess the validity of VTE events reported by NSQIP. Materials and methods: This is a retrospective analysis using NSQIP data from January 2006 through December 2018 and the electronic health record system data from five adult * Corresponding author. Vice Chair of Quality, Safety & Service, Department of Surgery; Associate Professor of Surgery, Anesthesiology/ Critical Care Medicine (ACCM) and Emergency Medicine; Division of Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Associate Professor of Health Policy & Management, The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health; Core Faculty, The Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, JHM, 1800 Orleans Street, Sheikh Zayed 6107C, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA. Tel.: þ410 502 3122; fax: þ410 502 3569. E-mail address: ehaut1@jhmi.edu (E.R. Haut). @elliotthaut (E.R. Haut) Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.JournalofSurgicalResearch.com journal of surgical research  july 2020 (251) 94 e99 0022-4804/$ e see front matter ª 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2020.01.011