Osteoporosis: screening for stronger, healthier lives

President Clinton has signed into law a provision to standardize Medicare coverage for bone mass measurements, authorizing coverage for certain high-risk people for bone density screening. The legislation also requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish frequency standards for bone mass measurement for Medicare beneficiaries, effective July 1, 1998. By 2010, a significant portion of the American population will be older than 60; already, more than one-third of women in the U.S. are older than 50; The implications for the direction of medical care are extraordinary A recent National Institute's of Health study notes that osteoporosis will reach "epidemic" proportions in the next decade. Already the disease causes more than 1.5 million fractures annually at a cost of more than $13 billion per year. Such numbers will only rise as the population ages. New efforts focus on identifying the disease in its earliest stages, assessing the rate of bone loss and encouraging preventive approaches. The role of radiology will continue to be critical.