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HealthDay News – Introducing pop-up messages regarding patient history of dual-energy X-ray absortiometry (DXA) in electronic health records (EHRs) increased the rates of DXA prescription by orthopedic surgeons, as well as the rates of osteoporosis medication and exercise, according to a study published online May 6 in the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice.
Joon Yub Kim, MD, PhD, from Myongji Hospital in Goyang-si, South Korea, and colleagues compared the rate of DXA prescription, osteoporosis medication, exercise, mortality, and subsequent refractures for 404 patients treated without and with pop-up messages activated in hospital EHRs, implemented in March 2012. Patients were followed for a two-year period.
The researchers found that the DXA prescription rate increased from 35.1% to 57.1% after introducing the pop-up messages (P < .001). Furthermore, there was an increase in the osteoporosis medication rate from 21.1% to 25.2% and in the exercise rate from 35.6% to 40.5% (P = .05 and .018, respectively).
The mortality rates were 4.64 in the group treated before implementation of pop-up messages and 6.67%for those treated after implementation (P = .4). Subsequent refractures occurred in 12.9% and 9.52% of those treated before and after implementation of EHR pop-up messages, respectively (P = .87).
“We recommend using this simple and effective method to improve physicians’ awareness of osteoporosis,” the authors write.
