The International Osteoporosis Foundation’s (IOF) Capture the Fracture^® program recently launched a new, enhanced online platform to enable coordinated post-fracture care (PFC) services (commonly known as Fracture Liaison Services - FLS) to receive a free assessment as well as global recognition of their services.

The online questionnaire is now available in these 12 languages, including all six official United Nations languages: English, Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Dutch, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, and Turkish. This greatly improves the accessibility of the application process for Fracture Liaison Service administrators worldwide.

IOF President Professor Cyrus Cooper, stated: 

“The new online application process will make participation in the Capture the Fracture^® program easier than ever. I encourage all hospitals with new or established Fracture Liaison Services to apply and to benefit from expert assessment and prestigious recognition for their service’s achievements.” 

Why should your Post-Fracture Care Program / Fracture Liaison Service apply? 

Capture the Fracture^® (CTF) is an IOF initiative which aims to facilitate the implementation of coordinated, multi-disciplinary models of care for secondary fracture prevention. CTF provides recognition and sets global best practices for post-fracture care services based on the CTF Best Practice Framework (BPF), the internationally-endorsed guidance for excellence in secondary fracture prevention. 

Upon free application, PFC/FLS receive: 

• Visibility and recognition for their PFC Coordination Program/FLS on the Capture the Fracture® Map of Best Practice;
• Peer-review of their PFC Coordination Program/FLS by the CTF Steering Committee and benchmarking for FLS against the internationally endorsed Best Practice Framework, highlighting service’s strengths and areas for improvement;
• Receipt of a certificate of achievement and use of the IOF-approved Capture the Fracture^® Best Practice Recognition logo on their service’s website and materials;
• Access to a wide range of resources and tools, as well as a network of international experts who can share their expertise and also provide mentorship and support.

Currently, 764 PFC/FLS in 50 countries have benefited from this international recognition program, more than double the number of participating services since January 2019. 

Services that apply to the CTF program are evaluated against the 13 BPF standards based on their organizational characteristics and standards of care for four key fragility fracture patient groups - hip fractures, other in-patient fractures, outpatient fractures, and vertebral fractures. Following expert evaluation, the PFC/FLS receives an overall rating of gold, silver, bronze, or blue (for those which are newly established) and the service is awarded a Capture the Fracture^® Best Practice Recognition certification.

Even new services which have not yet gathered enough data to enable assessment are encouraged to apply to the CTF program. The PFC/FLS would then be featured on the interactive CTF Map of Best Practice with a blue star pending assessment at a later date when the service is more established. 

Another advantage of the online platform is that applying FLS can create a personalized account so that the Best Practice Framework Questionnaire can be completed in multiple steps at their own convenience. The FLS administrator will also be able to follow up on their assessment submission through their personal account and easily update their data to facilitate re-assessment in the future.

Professor Cooper added:

“We call on hospitals worldwide to implement post-fracture care programs. Currently, the majority of fragility fracture patients are neither assessed nor treated to reduce their risk of a future fracture. Evidence has shown that the implementation of coordinated post-fracture care programs such as FLS is an ideal way to close this unacceptable osteoporosis care gap. We invite all new and established Fracture Liaison Services to join the Capture the Fracture^® program.”

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About the Best Practice Framework
The Best Practice Framework (BPF) is the Capture the Fracture^® internationally endorsed, peer-reviewed guideline for secondary prevention of osteoporotic fractures. The BPF promotes a coordinator-based model of post-fracture care, most often known as a Fracture Liaison Service (FLS), as the model of choice to be adopted by all hospitals and outpatient facilities that are treating fragility fracture patients. Structured as a series of 13 standards, the BPF addresses elements that are essential to FLS success and long-term sustainability and also includes aspirational goals, thus encouraging service excellence. Each standard gives criteria and targets that are broken down into three levels of achievement: gold, silver and bronze. The objectives of the BPF are to:

• Empower Change for clinical champions and health care administrators to rationally evaluate provision of secondary fracture prevention in their health care system in the context of globally-endorsed standards.
• Provide Guidance for those health care systems that are yet to establish an FLS.
• Give Recognition to leaders of established FLS for their dedication to excellence.

FLS which apply for ‘Best Practice Recognition’ are assessed by Capture the Fracture^® experts after completing the BPF Questionnaire, which reflects the thirteen BPF Standards. These FLS receive a corresponding Certificate of Achievement and their service receives recognition on the global ‘Map of Best Practice’.

The BPF questionnaire is currently available online in 12 languages (with more languages to be made available in the future), covering more than 150 countries around the world.

About Capture the Fracture^® 
Capture the Fracture^® (CTF) is a multi-stakeholder initiative led by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF). The initiative hopes to drive changes at local and international levels, so that secondary fracture prevention becomes a reality. Its aim is to set global best practices for Fracture Liaison Services (FLS), while serving as a benchmark tool to which clinics and hospitals can adhere and aspire to, and receive international recognition. The CTF program has a diverse set of tools that provides essential resources and documentation to drive quality improvement in FLS; CTF also offers mentorship programs that support development of FLS at the local level. The CTF network, which in 2022 celebrates its 10th anniversary, currently includes 764 FLS in 50 countries worldwide. 
https://www.capturethefracture.org #CaptureTheFracture 

About IOF
The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) is the world's largest nongovernmental organization dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis and related musculoskeletal diseases. IOF members, including committees of scientific researchers as well as 300 patient, medical and research societies, work together to make fracture prevention and healthy mobility a worldwide health care priority. https://www.osteoporosis.foundation @iofbonehealth