Getting Started Tools

• Seek a baseline for the number of fragility fracture patients your institution sees​
  • Include ED patients if feasible

• Decide which patients your institution will enroll​
  • At the start, it may be best to focus on a subset of eligible patients (hip fractures, inpatients, etc.)​

• Develop a process that will help you find eligible patients​
  • To ensure eligible patients will get enrolled in your program it may be helpful to use ICD codes, referrals, etc.

The Coordinator is often a nurse, nurse practitioner or a physician assistant but can also be a physician, physical therapist or other case manager. This person is typically responsible for the day-to-day operational tasks of the program and serves as the primary contact for the AOA’s Own the Bone program staff. Some sites also designate a Back-up Program Coordinator to assist with day-to-day operations.

Registry users may include additional team members that will be responsible for enrolling patients into the registry or pulling data reports.

The billing contact is often an individual who is involved with the financial department at your institution and will receive invoices related to the program and is responsible for processing payments.

We will work with individuals in these departments to determine how to best utilize and disseminate public relations tools such as internal/external press releases, social media, and annual recognition activities.

Some sites have found it useful to develop a council to regularly review the program’s performance and help identify ways to improve and expand. This typically involves the staff members identified above, with the addition of other interested clinicians and bone health specialists at your institution interested in advancing the program.

To facilitate compliance on the ten process measures, utilization of Own the Bone patient education materials is recommended.

Browse our preventing future fractures flyer, patient brochures, office posters, and online education resources.

Meeting the process measures for counseling is easy:

• The Own the Bone patient education flyer or brochure can be included as part of the patient’s discharge notes.
• Customized education and care coordination letters can be generated from the Own the Bone registry, reinforcing the counseling.
• Verbal reinforcement during the discharge process is recommended.

Best practice materials and measure specific studies are in the bone health toolkit to assist with establishing a process to meet the measures and provide additional information to inform counseling.

Patient data can be entered:

Directly into the web-based registry during the counseling visit

or

Captured on a paper-based form and inputted into the registry for retroactive enrollment.​

Track patients internally using the patient’s registry-generated Subject ID with the patient tracking tool to document EMR numbers.​

After a patient is enrolled into the registry you are able to generate customized patient education letters and care coordination letters for the patient’s PCP.

Through the “insights” tab in the registry you are able to:

• Gain insight into your patients’ demographic and fracture data
• Check your eligibility for inclusion in the annual recognition program
• Generate benchmarking reports to compare your institution’s compliance on the measures with all participating Own the Bone sites

Annual Recognition Program Criteria:

• Achieve a 75% compliance rate on at least 5 of the 10 Own the Bone prevention measures
• Document a minimum of 10 patients entered during a 12-month period from July 1st to June 30th
• Receive the “Own the Bone Star Performer” designation and be featured in the annual recognition piece in U.S. News & World Report “Best Hospitals,” guidebook.
• Sites that receive the designation get a Star Performer media toolkit, including a certificate of achievement and a logo, to help them publicize their achievement.