Influenza vaccination rates for hospitalised XXXX : a multiyear quality improvement effort.

@entity1 @entity778 @entity683
BACKGROUND: Influenza vaccination is the most effective method for preventing @entity778 . Adult hospitalised @entity1 form a particularly high-risk group for severe @entity683 given their advanced age and comorbidities. We sought to improve the @entity683 vaccination rates of hospitalised @entity1 at the White River Junction Veterans Affairs Medical Center. METHODS: The improvement effort started in 2007 when our baseline vaccination rate was about 60%. An interprofessional team analysed the @entity683 vaccination process for hospitalised @entity1 . During the course of six @entity683 seasons, eight Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles were used including a hospital-wide flu campaign, embedded orders in the electronic medical record (EMR) to facilitate ordering vaccinations by providers, daily reminders from ward clerks and standing orders for @entity683 vaccination on discharge. The measure was the monthly percentage of @entity1 discharged from the hospital with an up-to-date @entity683 vaccination. RESULTS: The percentage of veterans discharged with an up-to-date @entity683 vaccination increased to over 80% in February 2009 and has remained high. CONCLUSIONS: Although we are confident that our local efforts helped to improve the vaccination rate, external factors such as the 2009 H1N1 pandemic and universal vaccination may have primed our system to respond more readily to the implemented changes. Understanding all of the relevant factors that lead to vaccination uptake can be applied to future hospital @entity683 vaccination campaigns. In addition, our work demonstrates that an interprofessional approach is still required to apply the functionality of the EMR effectively.
