Value-based medicine and vitreoretinal diseases.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the review is to examine the role of value-based medicine and its impact, or potential impact, on vitreoretinal interventions.


RESULTS
Value-based medicine integrates evidence-based data from clinical trials with the patient-perceived improvement in quality of life conferred by an intervention. Cost-utility analysis, the healthcare economic instrument used to create a value-based medicine database, is being increasingly used to study the cost-effectiveness of vitreoretinal interventions.


CONCLUSIONS
Vitreoretinal interventions are generally cost-effective because of the great value they impart to patients. Laser surgical procedures, such as for diabetic retinopathy, threshold retinopathy of prematurity, and exudative macular degeneration appear to be especially cost-effective as a group.
Brown
Melissa M
MM
Center for Value-Based Medicine, 1107 Bethlehem Pike, Flourtown, PA 19031, USA. mbrown@valuebasedmedicine.com
Brown
Gary C
GC
Sharma
Sanjay
S
D017281:Cost of Illness; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics*; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000191:economics*; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D011788:Quality of Life; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000191:economics*; D014822:Vitreous Body