The Spine & Bone Health ECHO Series is a free, CME-accredited virtual educational program from the National Spine Health Foundation that connects leading experts with multidisciplinary healthcare professionals to advance best practices in bone health optimization and spine care. Through interactive sessions, participants gain practical, evidence-based knowledge on osteoporosis screening, diagnosis, treatment, program implementation, and fracture prevention while earning CME credit and engaging in collaborative discussions with peers and faculty.
Session 1: Looking Behind a Low DXA Score: Identifying and Treating Rare Bone Diseases That Compromise Bone Quality
Tuesday, July 21, 2026 | 8-9 pm ET
This session looks past the number on a DXA report to the rare, often-missed bone diseases that compromise bone quality and can quietly raise surgical risk. We’ll review how to recognize when a low score signals something more, when to pursue additional workup, and how an accurate diagnosis reshapes treatment, illustrated throughout with real-world case examples.
Session 2: The Catastrophic Effect of Poor Bone Quality in the Spine: What Proactive Steps Are Spine Surgeons Doing to Address the Issue in 2026
Monday, August 24, 2026 | 8-9 pm ET
This session examines how poor bone quality drives some of the most serious complications in spine surgery, from screw loosening and hardware failure to junctional problems and unplanned revision. We’ll review the proactive steps surgeons are taking in 2026 to flag at-risk patients, optimize bone health preoperatively, and adapt surgical strategy intraoperatively.
Session 3: The Consequences of Overlooking Pediatric Metabolic Bone Disease: How Common is This Pathology & What Are the Treatment Options?
Monday, September 28, 2026 | 8-9 pm ET
This session focuses on metabolic bone disease in the pediatric patient — a pathology that is more common than generally assumed and carries consequences that follow the patient well into adulthood when it goes unrecognized. We’ll review how often this presents, the findings that should prompt further evaluation, and the treatment options available once a diagnosis is established.
Session 4: A Real-World Narrative of The Importance of Establishing a Consortium of Key Players When Developing a Fracture Liaison Service (FLS)
Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2026 | Time: 8-9 pm ET
This session follows the real-world development of a Fracture Liaison Service, with particular attention to the coalition of clinicians, administrators, and staff whose buy-in determines whether the program survives past year one. We’ll review who needs a seat at the table from the outset, how to make the institutional case for an FLS, and the practical obstacles that tend to surface between the initial concept and a functioning service.
Session 5: Understanding Basic Bone Physiology & How It Clarifies the Pharmacological Treatment Selection for the Treatment of Osteoporosis
Date: Tuesday, November 10, 2026 | Time: 8-9 pm ET
Session 6: The Challenge of Treating Patients with Severe Adult Spinal Deformity Combined with Osteoporosis: Creating a Successful Peri-operative Treatment Algorithm
Date: Thursday, November 19, 2026 | Time: 8-9 pm ET
This session takes on one of the most demanding scenarios in spine surgery — major deformity correction in a patient whose bone may not reliably hold the construct. We’ll review how to identify and optimize these patients before the OR, where medical therapy fits into the surgical timeline, and how these considerations come together into a perioperative algorithm that improves the odds of a durable result.
