Increased Osteoporosis Screening Could Save Millions for Medicare

By Martha Kerr

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters Health) Nov 01 - Osteoporosis prevention and treatment not only prevents bone loss in women and men, it also would save Medicare $15.5 million over the next three years, researchers conducting a cost analysis study reported here at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.

Drs. Allison King of Procter and Gamble in Mason, Ohio, and Kenneth Saag of the University of Alabama, Birmingham, and colleagues estimated the impact of routine screening and early treatment of osteoporosis in men and women over the age of 65 on the Medicare budget.

Data from the NHANES III database show that nearly 15 million women over the age of 65 have either osteoporosis or osteopenia, yet only about 1.8 million receive annual bone mineral density (BMD) screening. The Prevention Services Task Force recommended, in a study published in the September issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, that all women of the age of 65 receive BMD testing annually. The test is Medicare reimbursed (in the USA)

"About 72% of women over the age of 65 have had neither a BMD test nor treatment for osteoporosis," Dr. King told Reuters Health in an interview after the meeting. "About one in four women in this age group have osteoporosis; 48% have osteopenia. While 70% are at risk, only 9% are tested."

"There is a 20% mortality rate within a year of the first osteoporosis-related event," Dr. Saag noted. Osteoporosis is not a normal part of aging and it can be prevented, both investigators stressed.

"These numbers are a wake-up call...we need to act quickly," Dr. King said, pointing out that the baby-boomer generation is beginning to enter the at-risk age group.

"A 10% increase in BMD testing...would result in a $15.5 million in savings [in the Medicare budget] over the next 3 years," Dr. Saag noted. "We would like to see these savings...go to co-payments" and other related costs of medical care for the geriatric population that has trouble meeting the costs of healthcare, Dr. King added.

"We would like to see 72% [of men and women over the age of 65] treated instead of 72% being missed," Dr. Saag declared.

The study was sponsored by The Alliance for Better Bone Health of Proctor and Gamble and Aventis.