As the director of the outpatient orthopedic services, you are asked to create a referral system for your clinic for women who are high risk for osteoporosis. How would you approach this project? How would you determine the effectiveness of your project?
The referral process forms an integral component of a patient’s care. For many women, bone loss becomes a major problem because of significant drop in estrogen levels (Mayo Foundation, 2016). When estrogen levels drop the body’s ability to make new bones drops as well (Mayo Foundation, 2016). This process may eventually cause loss of bone mass or density, which results in osteoporosis. Since evidence tells us osteoporosis can be prevented it is very important for our clinic to have a referral program in place for woman who are at a high risk for
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An evidence based practice project team was organized at the start of the project. Within the team we did include two members that had successful past referral program experience. The team collected internal and external data related to the need of a referral program for women at risk for osteoporosis. The problem was linked to interventions and outcomes.
The team located, identified, and analyzed best practice evidence related to creation of a clinic referral program. The team also wanted to provide a frame work so appropriate referrals were received and a tool was created so correct information was transferred to the provider during the referral process. A plan was created, champions were found in multiple areas, and education took place.
We trialed the referral program with a small independent family practice clinic located next to our orthopedic clinic. The project team analyzed each referral that came in. Information was also gathered from patient satisfaction surveys during the trial period. After the trial period the team moved on to implementation of the new referral program to the
Osteoporosis comes from the latin word meaning “porous bone”. If you were to look closely at a bone you could see there are these small spaces on the bone which is good, now if you look at someone who suffers from osteoporosis you will see these spaces are much larger. As these spaces become larger it takes away from the strength and integrity of the bone making it grow weak and thin. Osteoporosis is most common in women over the age of 50 and gives them a higher risk of fractures and or breaks especially common in the hips. While we know osteoporosis comes from a number of things it can be broken down to age, the hormonal changes most commonly seen in menopause and a lower intake of Vitamin D and Calcium. Age is the unpreventable factor that doctors or you cannot change. Hormonal changes can be fixed with supplements or hormone therapy along with ones intake of Vitamin D and Calcium. Hormone therapy, estrogen alone or the combination of estrogen and progestin have been proven to prevent and aide in the treatment of osteoporosis in
I should not include estrogen increase osteoblast apoptosis and thereby decreases the onset of osteoporosis. Estrogen promote osteoblast by limiting apoptotic cell death which leads decrease bone fragility and fractures. Estrogen can promote osteoblast viability by increasing osteoblast resistance to apoptosis.
Dear Aunt Sally, as woman reach menopause, the estrogen in their body rapidly declines. Our bones are constantly remolding themselves all through life. As estrogen is a necessary hormone in bone development, the onset of menopause and subsequent loss of estrogen can be catastrophic for our skeletal system. The bone loss starts off as Osteopenia.
There are many different diseases that can affect our skeletal system and Osteoporosis is one of them. Osteoporosis lessens bone strength and bone density (amount of bone mineral in bone tissue), which will lead to fragile bones. It mainly affect the hips, ribs, spine, and wrists. Male or female, at any age, can get this but it is mostly occurs in older women (Team, 2016). Osteoporosis is very common, there are more than 3 million cases a year. There are many causes/risk factors, symptoms, and some treatment cases. About 54 million Americans have Osteoporosis and low bone mass (Foundation, 2016).
Osteoporosis is a condition, which advances with age, resulting in fragile, weak bones due to a decrease in bone mass. Externally osteoporotic bone is shaped like normal bone, however it’s internal appearance differs. Internally the bone becomes porous due to a loss in essential minerals, including phosphate and calcium. The minerals are loss more quickly than they can be replaced and in turn cause the bones to become less dense and weak. The bones become prone to fracture, due to their weakness. Therefore the awareness of the disease tends to occur after a fracture has been sustained. The bones most commonly affected are the ribs, wrist, pelvis and the vertebrae.
Osteoporosis is a condition, in which bones are weak from deterioration, loss of bone mass, and quality-bone strength. Osteoporosis usually triggers postmenopausal women (women who have not had their period for a whole year), or older men and women. Some risks both older men and women endure when experiencing Osteoporosis are decrease of calcium and bone fractures. These symptoms or effects can all be caused by weight loss, smoking, age, ethnicity, genetics, medications, bone structure, and certain diseases that can later on contribute to Osteoporosis, such as rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoporosis may be prevented by going to drug therapy to stop alcoholism and smoking, a sufficient amount of calcium intake, and exercising; such as jogging, walking,
First of all, being a woman is one of the risk factors of osteoporosis especially after the age of menopause. “30% of American women between the ages of 60 and 70 have osteoporosis” (Marieb & Hoehn, 2016).To clarify, menopause is characterized by the loss of estrogen hormone production by the ovaries. Since estrogen is necessary for osteoblast to build new bone tissues, the lack of this hormone will improve the ability of osteoblast to absorb the bone tissues. Another risk factor of osteoporosis is being Caucasian. Caucasian women are more likely to get osteoporosis. 30% of Caucasian women experience a bone fracture in their lives that is related to osteoporosis” (Marieb & Hohen, 2016) . Furthermore, genetics are another risk factor of osteoporosis. Individuals with a family history of osteoporosis are at a primary risk for developing this condition. Moreover, a bad and unhealthy lifestyle including poor diet, lack of activities and exercise, smoking, and drinking too much are also risks factors of osteoporosis. In addition, low body weight is another risk factor of osteoporosis. Individuals with low body weight and small amount of fat and muscles are more likely to get this
Thus, the recommended treatment for a patient with osteoporosis would receive supplementary calcium (1,000 to 1,500 mg of calcium daily) as confirmed in the National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference on osteoporosis in 1984. But studies have shown that as humans age their ability to absorb calcium starts to diminish making this treatment almost ineffective in some elderly patients. Patients of this time, with little treatment options were forced to endure many fracture related injuries; most commonly fractures of the hip which is a very complicated fracture requiring hospitalisation and a surgical practice would be required. Even if the surgery had been successful the patient would not be able to return to the previous levels of activity they were once at; forcing the patient from self-care to supervised living situations/nursing
Osteoporosis risk factors can change, and others cannot be altered; the factors that cannot change are sex, race, and ethnicity; for example, Asian and Caucasian women have a higher risk of Osteoporosis than African American and Hispanic women, age, and genetic factors. Risk factors that can change are low sexual hormone levels, eating disorders, depression, low intake of calcium and vitamin D, getting the right amount of exercise, and medications. Osteoporosis is more likely to appear in women because women have smaller skeletons, and their bone loss begins earlier, and menopause brings on a phase of rapid bone loss. 80% of 10 million women are women. 10,000 women age 65 and older found bone mass fell by approximately 5% every five years in women after age 65 (Pena, 2012).
It is no secret that the current healthcare reform is a contentious matter that promises to transform the way Americans view an already complex healthcare system. The newly insured population is expected to increase by an estimated 32 million while facing an expected shortage of up to 44,000 primary care physicians within the next 12 years (Doherty, 2010). Amidst these already overwhelming challenges, healthcare systems are becoming increasingly scrutinized to identify ways to improve cost containment and patient access (Curits & Netten, 2007). “Growing awareness of the importance of health promotion and disease prevention, the increased complexity of community-based care, and the need to use scarce human healthcare resources, especially family physicians, far more efficiently and effectively, have resulted in increased emphasis on primary healthcare renewal.” (Bailey, Jones & Way, 2006, p. 381).
Institute for Health Improvement (IHI) (2011) Third next available appointment, Retrieved January 25, 2011 from http://www.ihi.org/IHI/Topics/OfficePractices/Access/Measures/Third+Next+Available+Appointment.htm
Walker, J. (2010). The role of the nurse in the management of osteoporosis. British Journal Of
When promoting primary health care services, there are many factors that must be considered when developing an effective marketing plan. Primary care providers are the gatekeepers of health care in the United States; many patients have to visit them before being referred to specialist providers (Bodenheimer, 2003). They are also being tasked with ensuring patients are receiving preventative services and managing more complex chronic diseases (Akinci & Healey, 2004). Recruitment of primary care physicians is challenging because they are expected to do more and are not being reimbursed proportionally for the added workload (Bodenheimer, 2003). In this paper, a group of primary care physicians in Washington D.C. is looking to research their consumer population base in order to provide them better services and recruit new primary care physicians to their practice (Colorado State University-Global Campus, 2013). A successful primary care marketing plan will recruit quality health care providers while improving consumer accessibility to their services, customer satisfaction rates, and patients’ continuity of care with their health care provider.
Women are at a higher threat of developing osteoporosis when their ovaries discontinue producing estrogen. This is due to the fact that estrogen supports maintaining proper calcium levels in bones. “A collapse of bony vertebrae of the spinal column results in loss of height and stooped posture. Hip fractures are a common occurrence.”
Osteoporosis is a disease in which the bones become so weak and brittle that even a cough can cause enough stress on the bone that it will cause the bone to facture. The most commonly broken bones are the hip, wrist, and the spine. Although it affects men and women of all races, post-menopausal Caucasian and Asian women are more commonly affected than those of other ethnicities and sexes. In fact, thirty percent of all post-menopausal women in the US and Europe will be diagnosed with Osteoporosis and at least 40 percent of those will suffer from a fracture in their lifetime.