Striving for quality: HEDIS® osteoporosis management in women who had a fracture.

Timely follow-up after fractures with BMD testing or treatment

We seek your support with the HEDIS OMW measure’s goal of timely follow-up after a fracture with a bone mineral density (BMD) scan or initiation of osteoporosis treatment for women age 67–85. This care is essential for preventing future injuries and identifying underlying osteoporosis.

According to the CDC, approximately 10 million Americans have osteoporosis, and 1 in 2 women over age 50 will experience an osteoporosis-related fracture in their life. These fractures are not just isolated injuries—they signal a chronic condition that requires management. Alarmingly, only 20% of women aged 67 and older receive bone density testing or treatment following a fracture, missing a critical opportunity for intervention.

Improving care and reporting

Fractures, especially in older adults, are associated with reduced mobility, increased mortality, and substantial health care costs. A simple step such as ordering a BMD scan post-fracture can lead to early diagnosis and initiation of treatment that reduces the risk of subsequent fractures.

To support quality improvements and reporting accuracy around this HEDIS measure, we encourage you to:

• Incorporate BMD scans or osteoporosis treatment within six months post-fracture to safeguard your patients’ long-term health.
• Not include unconfirmed fracture or old fracture codes as new on claims; these can inappropriately add your patient to the measure. Please submit a corrected claim to remove an inappropriately captured fracture as this is the only way a patient can be removed from this measure.

Reference: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). Osteoporosis. https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/features/osteoporosis/index.html