Narrowing the Gap Between Providers’ Knowledge and Practice to Improve Osteoporosis Care

Today’s healthcare screening recommendations are often provided by organizations and providers who care for specific populations and diseases. Despite the current recommendations from National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF), the project site had a gap in the consistent use of their current evidence-based guidelines for osteoporosis screenings. The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental project was to determine if the implementation of the screening criteria contained in the NOF Clinicians Guide to the Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis would impact the number of dual-energy x-rays absorptiometry (DXA) ordered and performed among adult patients with osteoporosis risk factors. The project took place in a primary care clinic on the east coast over four weeks. Kurt Lewin’s change model was used as the conceptual foundation for the project. The total sample size was 70, n=40 in the comparative group (three months prior) and n= 30in the implementation group. Two-sample proportion tests were performed to determine if a statistical difference existed between the comparative and implementation groups. Results indicated there was both a statistical and clinically significant improvement of 20 percentage points in the rate of DXA scans ordered and performed χ2(1) = 4.496, p = .03. The findings of this project demonstrated a clinically significant increase in patients evaluated and screened by guidelines for osteoporosis. Recommendations include continuation of implementation of the NOF Clinician Guidelines and possible repetition of the project at another clinical site over an extended monitoring period as well as with a larger sample size to increase DXA screenings