Establishing a fracture liaison service: An orthopaedic approach

Bone health evaluations should be incorporated into care pathways for fragility fractures in all patients who are fifty years of age or older. A fracture liaison service (FLS) is an established and proven method to achieve recommended standards of care for fragility fractures, including intervention for osteoporosis, secondary fracture prevention, and bone health evaluation. The FLS facilitates patient care by automatically including all patients with a fragility fracture within a health-care system to provide them with the intervention that they need and to prevent avoidable fracture-related complications or readmissions. An FLS functions with three key personnel: the FLS coordinator (usually an advanced practice provider), a physician champion (usually an orthopaedic surgeon), and a nurse navigator.