Osteoporosis: a disease management opportunity.

Advances in the ability to detect and effectively treat osteoporosis lead to questions about when testing and treatment should be initiated. Disease management provides answers with the promise of both cost-effective use of resources and improved health outcomes. Applying the characteristics and principles of disease management to osteoporosis provides a powerful rationale for a population-based approach to this disease. Disease management makes it possible to systematically identify persons at risk, intervene with prevention and treatment programs, and measure clinical, quality of life, and economic outcomes. Clinical guidelines are a critical element in disease management. This article presents clinical guidelines developed recently by national medical and public health experts based on a review of available research and clinical evidence.