Highland, URMC Doctors Publish Nation's First 'Blue Book' on Geriatric Fractures
March 16, 2011
Dr. Daniel Mendelson, Dr. Stephen Kates, Dr. Susan Friedman
Physicians from Highland Hospital’s Geriatric Fracture Center and the University of Rochester Medical Center have led development of the United States' first "Blue Book" for fragility fractures. Published this month, A Guide to Improving the Care of Patients With Fragility Fractures offers a comprehensive look at current best practices in the care and prevention of fragility fractures.
Stephen L. Kates, M.D., Associate Professor in URMC’s Department of Orthopaedics and co-Director of the Geriatric Fracture Center at Highland Hospital, edited the publication with Simon C. Mears, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital.
URMC faculty physicians Susan V. Bukata, Susan M. Friedman, Daniel A. Mendelson and Wakenda K. Tyler, as well as Chief Resident of the Department of Orthopaedics Fernando H. Serna Jr., are among the contributors. Mendelson is co-Director of Highland’s Geriatric Fracture Center; Friedman is the center’s Research Director.
The publication is the first such book for physicians, nurses, therapists and students in the U.S. health care market. For the past eight years, the United Kingdom has published a similar Blue Book for fragility fractures.
This U.S. Blue Book is available in print as the third issue of Geriatric Orthopaedic Surgery & Rehabilitation, an online journal devoted to orthopaedic care for elderly patients that debuted in September 2010. Kates is founding editor of the journal from SAGE Publications, a leading independent academic and professional publisher.
Kates, Mendelson and Friedman have published numerous studies about the benefits of their approach to geriatric fracture care. The team has demonstrated that their medical co-management and standardized care yield better patient outcomes - shorter lengths of stay, fewer complications and fewer hospital readmissions. Their research indicates elderly fracture patients live longer and their cost of care is far lower - about $18,000 lower per patient, compared to the national average - when they get the kind of care offered at Highland’s Geriatric Fracture Center.
For more research or to read previous online issues of the journal, go to http://gos.sagepub.com.