Vaccinating in the Emergency Department, a Novel Approach to Improve Influenza Vaccination Rates via a Quality Improvement Initiative. Pediatr Qual Saf 2020;5(4):e322
Date
08/09/2020Pubmed ID
32766495Pubmed Central ID
PMC7351463DOI
10.1097/pq9.0000000000000322Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85099992798 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 7 CitationsAbstract
INTRODUCTION: Annual influenza vaccination is recommended for all US children 6 months and older to prevent morbidity and mortality. Despite these recommendations, only ~50% of US children are vaccinated annually. Influenza vaccine administration in the pediatric emergency department (ED) is an innovative solution to improve vaccination rates. However, during the 2017-2018 influenza season, only 75 influenza vaccinations were given in this tertiary care ED. We aimed to increase the number of influenza vaccines administered to ED patients from 75 to 1,000 between August 2018 and March 2019.s.
METHODS: Process mapping identified potential barriers and solutions. Key interventions included mandatory vaccine screening, creation of a vaccine administration protocol, education for family, provider, and nursing, a revised pharmacy workflow, and weekly staff feedback. Interventions were tested using plan-do-study-act cycles. The process measure was the percent of patients screened for vaccine status. The primary outcome was the number of influenza vaccines administered. The balancing measures were ED length of stay (LOS), wasted vaccines, and financial impact on the institution.
RESULTS: We included 33,311 children in this study. Screening for vaccine status improved from 0% to 90%. Of those screened, 58% were eligible for vaccination, and 8.5% of eligible patients were vaccinated in the ED. In total, 1,323 vaccines were administered with no significant change in ED LOS (139 min) and no lost revenue to the hospital.
CONCLUSIONS: We implemented an efficient, cost-effective, influenza vaccination program in the pediatric ED and successfully increased vaccinations in a population that might not otherwise receive the vaccine.
Author List
Baumer-Mouradian SH, Kleinschmidt A, Servi A, Jaworski B, Lazarevic K, Kopetsky M, Nimmer M, Hanson T, Gray MP, Drendel ALAuthors
Shannon H. Baumer-Mouradian MD Assistant Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of WisconsinAmy L. Drendel DO Interim Chief, Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin
