Fracture follow-up avoids osteoporosis

Portland, Ore. -- Electronic medical records and outreach efforts after a bone fracture can improve the diagnosis and care of patients' osteoporosis, U.S. researchers found.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, showed electronic medical records and e-mail, mail and phone call outreach improve osteoporosis prevention.

The study of 3,588 women shows that an outreach program targeted to patients with a previous fracture contributed to a decrease -- from 44 percent to 13.4 percent -- of patients evaluated and/or treated for osteoporosis.

"Often when a patient sustains a fracture, there is a disconnect between the treating orthopedist and the patient’s primary care physician," lead study author Dr. Adrianne Feldstein of the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Ore., said in a statement. "With Kaiser Permanente’s computerized database and integrated care delivery system, we can closely monitor and follow patients with fractures and prevent that disconnect."

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