Osteoporosis Knowledge Among Spine Surgery Patients.

Background: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes on osteoporosis among first-time spine surgery patients.

Methods: An electronic survey consisting of demographics, prior experience with osteoporosis, and the Facts on Osteoporosis Quiz (FOOQ) was sent via email to first-time spine surgery patients. Patients were then randomized into 2 groups: 1 received a brief osteoporosis information packet prior to beginning the FOOQ, and 1 proceeded directly to the survey.

Comparative Cost-Effectiveness of Hypertension Treatment in Non-Hispanic Blacks and Whites According to 2014 Guidelines: A Modeling Study.

Background: We compared the cost-effectiveness of hypertension treatment in non-Hispanic blacks and non-Hispanic whites according to 2014 US hypertension treatment guidelines.

Methods: The cardiovascular disease (CVD) policy model simulated CVD events, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and treatment costs in 35- to 74-year-old adults with untreated hypertension. CVD incidence, mortality, and risk factor levels were obtained from cohort studies, hospital registries, vital statistics, and national surveys.

Dedicated Perioperative Hip Fracture Comanagement Programs are Cost-effective in High-volume Centers: An Economic Analysis.

Background: Osteoporotic hip fractures are common injuries typically occurring in patients who are older and medically frail. Studies have suggested that creation of a multidisciplinary team including orthopaedic surgeons, internal medicine physicians, social workers, and specialized physical therapists, to comanage these patients can decrease complication rates, improve time to surgery, and reduce hospital length of stay; however, they have yet to achieve widespread implementation, partly owing to concerns regarding resource requirements necessary for a comanagement program.

Questions/purposes: We performed an economic analysis to determine whether implementation of a comanagement model of care for geriatric patients with osteoporotic hip fractures would be a cost-effective intervention at hospitals with moderate volume.

The Value of Diagnostic Testing in Personalized Medicine.

Personalized medicine - the targeting of therapies to individuals on the basis of their biological, clinical, or genetic characteristics - is thought to have the potential to transform health care. While much emphasis has been placed on the value of personalized therapies, less attention has been paid to the value generated by the diagnostic tests that direct patients to those targeted treatments. This paper presents a framework derived from information economics for assessing the value of diagnostics.