Initiative utilizes Phreesia’s electronic patient check-in system to enhance management of osteoporosis
New York, N.Y. – April 28, 2009 – Phreesia, the Patient Check-In Company™, has announced that it will offer a new risk assessment tool in its electronic patient intake process to help physicians identify patients at risk for osteoporosis and patients in need of immediate treatment.
Phreesia collaborated with osteoporosis expert, Felicia Cosman, MD, and relied on the National Osteoporosis Foundation’s (NOF) recently released Clinician’s Guide to Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis as a basis for the osteoporosis risk assessment tool. NOF’s Guide provides evidence-based guidelines designed to help clinicians and patients have a productive dialog about a serious and common disease.
“Osteoporosis and risk of fracture are a major public health threat in the United States,” said Dr. Cosman, Professor of Clinical Medicine at Columbia University and Medical Director of the Clinical Research Center at Helen Hayes Hospital in New York.
Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by low bone mass and increased susceptibility to bone fracture. According to the NOF, osteoporosis affects approximately 44 million Americans, or 55 percent of people over 50 years of age. It is estimated that osteoporosis-related fractures cost the U.S. healthcare system more than $17 billion annually.
“Diagnosis and treatment is possible before any fracture occurs, and effective treatments are available to decrease the risk of further fractures,” said Robert Recker, MD, President of the NOF and Director of the Osteoporosis Research Center at Creighton University. “NOF welcomes new technology that helps patients and health professionals address this prevalent disease.”
“Osteoporosis-related fractures result in approximately 2.5 million medical office visits annually in the United States, and Phreesia is committed to reducing the enormous medical and personal burden of this disease on aging individuals and their families,” said Chaim Indig, Phreesia’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Bone health is essential to overall health and an important component of Phreesia’s measurement guided care program, and we are very pleased to be leveraging the expertise of Dr. Cosman and the National Osteoporosis Foundation to help improve health outcomes in our network,” said Indig.
As part of its commitment to enhanced patient care, Phreesia will deploy this osteoporosis risk assessment to the Phreesia Network.
About National Osteoporosis Foundation:
Established in 1984, the National Osteoporosis Foundation is the nation’s leading voluntary health organization solely dedicated to osteoporosis and bone health. Our mission is to prevent osteoporosis, to promote lifelong bone health, to help improve the lives of those affected by osteoporosis and related fractures, and to find a cure through programs of awareness, advocacy, patient and health professional education and research.
Contact:
Maureen McKinney
212-457-0257
mmckinney@phreesia.com