PROBLEM:
Osteoporosis is a condition associated with significant morbidity, mortality and economic costs. It is a disease amenable to primary and secondary prevention. The Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) is a list of Medicare services which are subsidised by the Australian Government. There are MBS criteria highlighting patients would be eligible for investigation of osteoporosis with bone densitometry. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is a part of the Australian Government’s National Medicines Policy, with the aim of providing access to necessary medicines for Australians through subsidising medication costs (pbs.gov.au). We suspect that there are patients referred for bone densitometry who do not meet the MBS criteria for investigation of osteoporosis. In addition, we are interested in examining the relationship between the bone densitometry results and the PBS criteria for prescription of osteoporosis treatments.
METHODS
A retrospective audit of patients who have undergone bone densitometry at the Lyell McEwin Hospital, South Australia, over a 6 month period, will be conducted. Data presented will include:
• Patient demographics
• Referring practitioner details
• The indication listed by the referring practitioner
• Whether this indication matches MBS listed indications for bone densitometry
• The result of the bone densitometry, including FRAX estimation
• How the bone densitometry result influences treatment .