New Capture the Fracture® online platform for post-fracture care coordination programs

Designed to support Post-Fracture Care Coordination Program implementation, the website includes new features such as an extensive Resource Center, updated global map of services worldwide, and a dedicated policy section.

“We’re incredibly excited to present a vibrant new platform to host IOF’s landmark Capture the Fracture® Program,” announced International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) President, Professor Cyrus Cooper today.

“This is an important milestone for the Capture the Fracture® (CTF) program, a global initiative developed by IOF to promote and facilitate the implementation of coordinated, multi-disciplinary models of care for secondary fracture prevention. IOF believes that Post-Fracture Care Coordination Programs, often termed ‘Fracture Liaison Services’, are the single most important way to directly improve patient care and reduce spiraling fracture-related healthcare costs worldwide.”

The website, now compatible with the latest digital devices, includes many new features, including the following key elements:

Resources and tools to support new and existing Post-Fracture Care Programs

An extensive online global hub of resources, the Resource Center now provides healthcare professionals, hospitals and clinics with valuable resources to help them set up new Post-Fracture Care Coordination Programs, or to improve their existing services. Practical insights and step-by-step guidance is provided in the form of webinars and related slide kits, information leaflets, audits and reports. The website will soon host dedicated tools to help support the business case for service implementation and to assist programs in tracking key performance indicators and facilitating the management of patient pathways.

Resources to support policy change and drive Post-Fracture Care implementation

For change to happen, health authorities and hospital administrators must commit to supporting the implementation and sustained operation of Post-Fracture Care Coordination Programs. The Capture the Fracture® website now hosts a new section which provides various resources to assist local stakeholders in their efforts to engage health authorities and decision makers. This includes the new ‘Capture the Fracture® Partnership Guidance for Policy Shaping’ toolkit, and other international resources that can support efforts to promote policy change at the regional and local level.

Application for recognition and assessment of existing Post-Fracture Care Coordination Programs / Fracture Liaison Services (FLS)

Capture the Fracture®’s Best Practice Framework (BPF) sets an international benchmark for Post-Fracture Care Coordination Programs, defining essential and aspirational elements of service delivery. It serves as the measurement tool for IOF to award ‘Best Practice Recognition’ based on the assessment of 13 globally-endorsed standards. Hospitals and clinics hosting Post-Fracture Care Coordination Programs are invited to apply for free assessment and receive international recognition on the Capture the Fracture® Map of Best Practice via the website.

Fragility fractures due to osteoporosis pose a huge and growing human and economic burden worldwide. By 2025 there will be some 13.5 million fragility fractures annually. Nevertheless, osteoporosis is vastly underdiagnosed and undertreated. Currently some 80% of fracture patients, those at highest risk, are not being identified or offered bone-strengthening treatment and long-term management, including falls prevention support.

“To achieve a significant reduction in future fracture rates and resulting costs, healthcare systems must close this care gap by ensuring the widespread implementation of Post-Fracture Care Coordination Programs. Through these programs fracture patients are assessed and managed, and this leads to improved patient outcomes, delivers financial savings, and - most importantly - saves lives.”

“With the growing global interest in Post-Fracture Care program development, the launch of the new Capture the Fracture® platform is both timely and essential, providing a central hub for recognition, mentorship and support to services worldwide.”

###

About Capture the Fracture®

Capture the Fracture® (CTF) is a multi-stakeholder initiative led by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF). The initiative hopes to drive changes at local and international levels, so that secondary fracture prevention becomes a reality. Its aim is to set global best practices for Fracture Liaison Services (FLS), while serving as a benchmark tool to which clinics and hospitals can adhere and aspire to, and receive international recognition. The CTF programme has a diverse set of tools that provides essential resources and documentation to drive quality improvement in FLS; CTF also offers mentorship programmes that support development of FLS at the local level. Currently the CTF network includes 562 FLS from 48 countries worldwide. www.capturethefracture.org #CaptureTheFracture

About IOF

The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) is the world's largest nongovernmental organization dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis and related musculoskeletal diseases. IOF members, including committees of scientific researchers as well as 266 patient, medical and research societies, work together to make fracture prevention and healthy mobility a worldwide heath care priority. www.osteoporosis.foundation @iofbonehealth

World Osteoporosis Day (WOD) held annually on October 20 calls for global action to fight osteoporosis and related fractures.