Patricia A. Seuffert, MS, APN of UOA recently attended and presented her study, Serum Levels of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Following Acute Fracture in the Hospital Setting, at the 2015 Interdisciplinary Symposium on Osteoporosis: Improving Performance in Post-Fracture Care.

The Interdisciplinary Symposium on Osteoporosis (ISO), sponsored by the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF), provides the latest evidenced-based information on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of osteoporosis. It is the only professional meeting in the US that incorporates all medical disciplines involved in the treatment of patients with and at risk for osteoporosis and related fractures.

Patricia, along with Dorene O’Hara, MD, MSE and Charles Gatt Jr., MD, conducted a study to identify gaps in fracture care at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and then respond with modifications that would improve fracture care and minimize future fractures.

The study found that many patients over the age of 50 with a new fracture were not included in vitamin D testing and that only a fraction of patients tested had adequate vitamin D levels. This finding confirmed the need to modify the fracture order set at the hospital and it also has triggered the need to implement medical orders to replenish vitamin D levels for hospitalized patients. Correcting and replenishing vitamin D levels in patients with new fractures is just one component of improving fracture management.

Patricia Seuffert became interested in performance improvement in osteoporosis when she and other healthcare professionals participated in a pilot study at Robert Wood Johnson in 2012 supported by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization. As a result of this pilot project, new measures were adopted by the National Quality Forum that benchmark quality performance in post-fracture care and are currently used nationwide.

Testing for bone quality is one of the performance measures following a new fracture.

UOA is one of only two facilities in New Jersey that is accredited for the provision of Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) by the International Society for Clinical Densitometry (ISCD). This accreditation affirms that UOA has achieved and maintained a level of competency when providing DXA scans in the diagnosis of low bone mass or osteoporosis. A DXA scan can be ordered, interpreted, and explained to the patient by Patricia Seuffert who is also a Certified Clinical Densitometrist.

See below to view the project conducted by the UOA study team: