Becker's Spine Review, read across hospital and orthopedic leadership, turned to Dr. Shannon Carpenter for a question every health system is about to face: as Medicare's TEAM model makes hospitals financially accountable for fracture-care episodes, who is actually preventing the next fracture? Her answer reframes bone health from a clinical afterthought into a financial imperative.
“The stats are currently that 90% of patients leave the hospital after a fragility fracture with no diagnosis and no follow-up. Ninety percent.”
“The first fracture is a failure of prevention. The second fracture is neglect.”
“We're waiting until something breaks.”
“The right answer would be to treat bone health. That is what is really going to save Medicare money.”
“I don't think hospitals are prepared. I think they're going to be scrambling.”
“Even if you're not one of the chosen hospitals for TEAM, buckle up. It takes a while to make these changes.”
“We've done so much education around mammograms. We don't need to reinvent the wheel.”
“The real important part of that is not the scan as much as the fact we're bringing the conversation of bone health into midlife where it belongs instead of reactive.”
“We're at our moment where it's going to change. Because we can't afford for it not to change.”
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