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Adjusting for Inflation and Higher Surgery Costs in a Cost-Effectiveness Study of Spinal Surgery
- Anna N.A. Tosteson, ScD;
- James N. Weinstein, DO, MS; and
- Jonathan S. Skinner, PhD
- From Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH 03756, and Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755.
IN RESPONSE:
We thank Drs. Shusterman and Erder for their comments, which highlight both the challenges inherent in using any single threshold as a benchmark for ascribing value to health care interventions and the pitfalls in adjusting for inflation and converting between currencies. If one first adjusts for the inflation of Canadian dollars from mid-1990 to mid-2004 (an adjustment of 1.319 [1]), then the “costly” $100 000 threshold (2) becomes $131 900. Converting between 2004 Canadian and U.S. dollars (1.322 Canadian dollars per U.S. dollar as of 1 July 2004 …
