Joint Commission Offers Seasonal Flu Immunization Strategies

Free Monograph Designed to Improve Health Care Worker Vaccination Rates

(OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. – June 24, 2009) Seasonal influenza in health care workers is a personal health threat, but also poses a significant risk to the patients in their care. In an effort to help health care organizations improve the rate of health care worker influenza vaccinations, The Joint Commission is releasing a monograph “Providing a Safer Environment for Health Care Personnel and Patients Through Influenza Vaccination: Strategies from Research and Practice.”

The monograph, which was supported by an educational grant from sanofi pasteur, is the result of the project Strategies for Implementing Successful Influenza Immunization Programs for Health Care Personnel, a 10-month collaboration between The Joint Commission, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. (APIC), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), and the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID).

The monograph includes information about seasonal influenza and the influenza vaccine, barriers to successful programs and strategies for overcoming them, and examples of successful initiatives organizations have used to improve their influenza vaccination rates. The Joint Commission received more than 229 submissions from health care organizations and a subset of submissions was selected for a panel review. Ultimately, 28 submissions were selected for inclusion in the monograph.

The monograph incorporates evidence-based guidelines and published literature to highlight practical strategies and the tools submitted by health care organizations. Electronic copies of the monograph are available on The Joint Commission’s Web site at www.jointcommission.org, and can be downloaded free of charge.

“Health care worker flu vaccination rates have been less than optimal for years and the vaccination rate is still below 50 percent. Organizations are eager to find ways to encourage their employees to get vaccinated,” says Jerod M. Loeb, Ph.D., executive vice president, Division of Quality Measurement and Research, The Joint Commission. “The monograph includes strategies that organizations can employ and provides a foundation to improve vaccination rates.”

According to the CDC, vaccination coverage of health care personnel remains low despite the documented benefits on patient outcomes, staff absenteeism and reducing infections among staff. In addition, increased vaccination rates can reduce costs within health care organizations. Health care personnel can acquire seasonal influenza from patients and can also spread the disease to vulnerable patients or other staff. In 2007, The Joint Commission implemented a new standard in hospitals and long term care facilities requiring that influenza vaccinations be offered to staff and practitioners.

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Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission seeks to continuously improve the safety and quality of care provided to the public through the provision of health care accreditation and related services that support performance improvement in health care organizations. The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits more than 16,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States, including more than 8,000 hospitals and home care organizations, and more than 6,200 other health care organizations that provide long term care, behavioral health care, laboratory and ambulatory care services. In addition, The Joint Commission also provides certification of more than 600 disease-specific care programs, primary stroke centers, and health care staffing services. An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation's oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. Learn more about The Joint Commission at www.jointcommission.org.

HCAF Show - Orlando, FL June 24 and 25 2009

Stop by and meet us at booth 25 in Orlando. We want to give you something!

Bring along one or two of the forms that you use in your home health care agency, in Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel formats, on a CD or USB stick, and we will convert them to digitized forms while you wait - no charge!

While we convert your forms, we will show you home health care agencies are increasingly turning to point of care solutions to make it easier for caregivers to capture and deliver notes for their entire treatment schedule. This helps agencies submit their bills faster - no more searching for visit notes, no more transcribing of notes in to other systems.

Come and meet our team at booth 25, HCAF Show, Omni Orlando Resort at Championsgate, Orlando, Florida, 5:00pm to 7:30pm on June 24th, and 7:00am to 6:30pm on June 25th, 2009.

To call ahead to schedule an appointment, phone (305) 675-6704 and ask for Marc on extension 704.