Value-based medicine and vitreoretinal diseases.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of the review is to examine the role of value-based medicine and its impact, or potential impact, on vitreoretinal interventions.

RECENT FINDINGS: 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.

SUMMARY: 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.