New White Paper from Secretary David J. Shulkin, MD, Outlines Strategy to Prevent 10,000 Veteran Hip Fractures a Year

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa., Aug. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ActiveProtective today announced the release of a new white paper, V-HIP (Veterans Hip Injury Prevention): A Strategy to Prevent 10,000 Fractured Hips a Year, authored by David J. Shulkin, MD, Ninth U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and Rebecca J. Tarbert, PT, DPT, GCS, CLT. The paper calls on the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to add a final layer of protection for Veterans already known to be at high risk for hip fractures, extending care from fall prevention to the moment of impact.

Hip fractures are among the most serious injuries the VHA treats. One-year mortality following a hip fracture can reach 32% among male Veterans. Roughly 50% of survivors never regain independent ambulation, and one in four require long-term care placement. The VHA spends an estimated $43 million a year on excess hip fracture costs alone, a figure that does not include the downstream burden of rehabilitation, long-term care, and caregiver support.

By the numbers, from the paper's illustrative cost-avoidance model:

• An estimated 400,000 Veterans carry both a diagnosed bone-loss condition and a documented fall history, the population identified as being at highest risk of a hip fracture.
• Without intervention, this patient population is expected to produce roughly 13,400 hip fractures a year.
• Applying the 91% relative risk reduction demonstrated in peer-reviewed clinical evidence for active wearable airbag systems, the white paper estimates that as many as 12,100 of those hip fractures could be avoided annually.
• That level of reduction represents an estimated $826 million in gross medical cost avoidance to VHA each year, at an implied break-even cost of under $14,000 per protected Veteran.

"When I served as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, one lesson became clear: Veterans consistently told us they wanted to remain independent for as long as possible. A hip fracture too often marks the point where that independence is lost. That's why I believe preventing these injuries deserves to be a national priority—not simply because it saves healthcare dollars, but because it helps Veterans continue living the lives they earned through their service." – Dr. David J. Shulkin

This paper draws a clear line between fall prevention, which reduces how often a Veteran falls, and injury reduction, which mitigates the severity of the hip injury when a fall cannot be avoided and reviews three categories of injury mitigation technology already in use or under evaluation across the VA: active wearable airbag systems, passive wearables, and compliant flooring. Rather than proposing a new, parallel program, the paper recommends that VHA integrate injury mitigation strategies directly into its existing falls prevention infrastructure. 

"Veterans at highest risk are not hard to find. They are already in VA's own systems, flagged by the risk tools clinicians use every day. The opportunity in front of VHA is to act on what it already knows," said Dr. Tarbert.

The white paper offers five recommendations for VHA leadership: a five-year, phased rollout across all 18 VISNs beginning with sites that already have established falls-prevention infrastructure; prioritization of Veterans using existing risk-stratification tools; formal integration with the National Falls Prevention Committee and the SAFE STEPS for Veterans Act of 2025; pre-specified outcome metrics; and independent evaluation built in from the start.

Free Webinar with Secretary Shulkin September 23
ActiveProtective will host a free live webinar on September 23, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. ET, featuring Secretary Shulkin discussing the paper's findings and his strategy for reducing Veteran hip fractures by 10,000 a year. Topics will include:

• Why hip fractures remain one of the most consequential and costly injuries facing older Veterans
• The clinical and economic case behind the paper's cost-avoidance model
• How VHA can identify and prioritize the Veterans already known to be at highest risk
• Recommended next steps for VHA leadership, clinical champions, and Veterans Service Organizations

Registration is free and open to VHA staff, clinicians, Veterans Service Organizations, and anyone interested in Veteran fall safety.

Download the white paper: https://tinyurl.com/5anbnf82

Register for the webinar: https://tinyurl.com/37mjt7um

About David J. Shulkin, MD
David J. Shulkin, MD, served as the Ninth U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs and previously served as VA Under Secretary for Health. He currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Committee of ActiveProtective.

About Rebecca J. Tarbert, PT, DPT, GCS, CLT
Rebecca J. Tarbert is Vice President of Clinical Programs at ActiveProtective. She has published peer-reviewed research on strategies for mitigating fall-related hip injuries in older adults.

About ActiveProtective
ActiveProtective is a medical device company focused on protecting older adults with a diagnosed bone loss condition and a documented history of falls from life-altering hip fractures. Its flagship product, the Tango® Belt, is an FDA-authorized wearable hip airbag that inflates in the moments before impact, reducing the risk of hip fracture by up to 91 percent during a fall. Learn more at TangoBelt.com.

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SOURCE ActiveProtective