Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

Emergency Preparedness: Use of a Bioterrorism Drill to Improve Influenza Vaccination Among Health Care Personnel

During the 2013-14 influenza season, an emergency preparedness mass influenza vaccination drill was conducted, focusing on the institution's capabilities to vaccinate employees, contractors and volunteers in response to a simulated pandemic influenza outbreak. Vaccination centers were set up at four entrances of the facility, where employees entering were required to receive vaccination or complete declination paperwork. During this 2-day drill, 8,670 faculty and staff participated in the program with 1,580 vaccinations administered, increasing immunization coverage from 51.4 percent to 63 percent among hospital staff. To further protect the hospital community, 2,405 declination forms were coded and analyzed for correlation patterns to influence development of targeted educational campaigns aligning with Vaccinate Illinois Week. Education tailored to specific preferential reasons for decline were developed and deployed throughout the remaining flu season. A discussion session was held for areas with particularly high rates of declination, with vaccine offered on-location. These efforts resulted in a coverage rate of 68.3 percent among hospital staff.

Contact: Heather Limper, Epidemiologist
Email:hlimper@medicine.bsd.uchicago.edu
Phone:773.702.1479

This case study is part of the Illinois Hospital Association's annual quality awards. Each year, IHA recognizes and celebrates the achievements of Illinois hospitals in continually improving and transforming health care in the state.  These hospitals are improving health by striving to achieve the Triple Aim--improving the patient experience of care (including quality and satisfaction); improving the health of populations; and reducing the per capita cost of health care.

Award recipients achieve measurable and meaningful progress in providing care that is:

• Safe
• Timely
• Effective
• Efficient
• Equitable
• Patient-centered

(The Institute of Medicine's six aims for improvement.)