New initiative from orthopedic group guides physicians, hospitals in bone health education and treatment
1st on the web (December 18, 2009)
The American Orthopaedic Association has developed a multidisciplinary, Web-based, quality improvement initiative to guide hospitals and practitioners in addressing bone health and fragility fractures.
The Own the Bone initiative offers a registry, testing, counseling, treatment, education and communication components. According to its organizers, the program is steadily gaining momentum. However, patients at risk of fragility fractures can only benefit from the initiative once a local site such as, a physician, hospital or health care system, enrolls in the Own the Bone program.
“We want to close this treatment gap that one in five Americans get appropriate evaluation and treatment for their bone health,” Douglas R. Dirschl, MD, chairman of the University of North Carolina’s department of orthopedics, said during an Own the Bone Webinar. “That is simply not acceptable. We want to begin to close that gap with a national program,” he said.
