![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() How, in a practical way, can this be translated into a clear, unambiguous cost effectiveness measure? For the i-FACTOR economic study, the research team used, in part, the well-studied and validated 36-item short-form survey (SF-36) and then transformed it into a weighted utility to calculate a quality-of-life measure for patients.Īccording to senior author Jared Ament, M.D., the goal of the economic study was to compare Cerapedics’ i-FACTOR cost-benefit to local autograft in patients undergoing anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) surgery. One QALY equates to one year of perfect health or two or more years of less than perfect health. Insurers require unambiguous data that a treatment or solution provides enough benefit to justify its cost.Īn insurer’s willingness-to-pay (WTP) is based on factors such treatment cost, the quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) provided by the treatment, and the value assigned to each QALY.Ī typical value assigned to a QALY is $100,000. The cost of a device or treatment often has an outsized weighting when it comes to coverage decisions. Significant Cost Benefit Differential for i-FACTOR It took Cerapedics almost 15 years to achieve the rare (only two ever granted by the FDA) premarket approval for i-FACTOR in spinal fusion.Ĭerapedics describes i-FACTOR as a peptide enhanced bone graft that will “Attract, Attach, and Activate” osteogenic cells to build bone where placed and nowhere else. Later it was reformulated as i-FACTOR Bone Graft Putty and began the arduous PMA (premarket approval) regulatory and clinical study process for use as a spine fusion biologic in single-level ACDF. The first bone graft with the P-15 peptide was originally formulated and commercialized in 1999 for dental applications by Ceramed, the predecessor company to Cerapedics. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved two spine fusion biologic products via the rigorous Pre-Market Approval process-one is a recombinant BMP-2 bone graft and the other is a peptide-based bone graft manufactured by Westminster, Colorado-based Cerapedics, Inc. Only Two FDA Approved Spine Fusion Biologics in the United States. The economic analysis is titled: “ Cost-Effectiveness of Peptide Enhanced Bone Graft i-Factor versus Use of Local Autologous Bone in Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion Surgery.” The service is a part of Hydro One’s improved outage communications tools, which also includes Storm Centre, the outage map on and the company’s outage app.A robust, cost-utility analysis of bone graft, which was recently published in ClinicoEconomics and Outcomes Research, found that one particular spine fusion biologic, when put up against the cost of (free) local autograft in cervical fusion procedures (considered the gold standard) would be justified even if the price was increased 70 times. Since launching the program, Hydro One has sent hundreds of thousands of proactive outage alerts to customers who registered and had an outage occur near their residence. “We’re glad to see the pilot program succeed and be expanded to help even more customers.” “Hydro One values customer relationships and understands the importance of communicating with customers,” said Shazir Khan, CEO and President of iFactor, developer of the Notifi alert system used for the notification service, in the release. They will also have the ability to decide when and how they receive messages. Hydro One is the first utility in Canada to offer the service.Ĭustomers who register will receive alerts when an outage has been reported near their residence, as well as updates on estimated times of restoration. “With this service, we have the ability to reach out to our customers and provide the up-to-date information they want and need during an outage.” “When customers’ lights go out, they need to know two things: that help is on the way, and when we will restore power so life can get back to normal,” said Rob Quail, Hydro One’s vice-president of customer service, in a media release Thursday. People can register for outage alerts online at /MyAccount. Hydro One customers can now register to receive proactive personalized text or e-mail alerts about outages affecting their homes or businesses.īased on positive customer feedback after the initial pilot launch in November 2014, the utility made the service available to all of its residential customers across the province. ![]()
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