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CME Outfitters Advocate Taking Action to Improve Adult Vaccination Rates for Leading Vaccine- Preventable Diseases
100% of Physicians Agreed to Check Immunization Status During Routine Annual Examinations
Powell, OH (PRWEB) August 30, 2011
August is National Immunization Awareness Month and it’s the perfect time to take steps to improve the nation’s immunization rates for vaccine-preventable disease. Earlier this month, Monique Johnson, MD, CCMEP, Medical Program Director at CME Outfitters, authored a Compass Point™ article entitled “August Is National Immunization Awareness Month.” The article focused on adult immunization, with special attention to influenza and pneumococcal vaccination.
Vaccines are among the most effective illness prevention strategies available. Both the effectiveness and return on investment of vaccination programs are extraordinarily high. The article revealed some startling facts about the burden of unvaccinated patients. Did you know that for each birth cohort vaccinated according to the routine immunization schedule:
- 33,000 lives are saved;
- 14 million cases of disease are prevented;
- Direct health care costs are reduced by $9.9 billion; and
- Indirect health care costs are reduced by $33.4 billion?(1)
Still approximately 42,000 adults and 300 children die each year in the U.S. from vaccine-preventable disease.(1) These staggering statistics underscore how immunization reduces infectious disease mortality and morbidity and contributed to the increase in life expectancy seen during the 20th Century.
Some physicians who read Dr. Johnson’s article opted to participate in a small educational effectiveness study. These learners reflected on the knowledge that they obtained during the activity. They also committed to one small change that could have far-reaching positive effects on patient health outcome. One hundred percent of participants made a commitment to identifying the estimated adult influenza and pneumococcal disease vaccination rates for the state in which they practice. In addition, 100% of physicians who treat patients over the age of 65 agreed to plan to check immunization status during routine annual examinations.
Dr. Johnson remarked, “I hope this article is informative and prompts you to think carefully about vaccine-preventable disease. Then, take action to increase your immunization rates. The plans for action that you make this August will improve your care of patients…not just today and tomorrow, but for the future.” You are invited to read the full-text article and receive free CME credit. At CME Outfitters, education can make a difference and help physicians to plan to check on immunization status during every annual examination. Education can create awareness of the challenges that face the busy clinician and then offer powerful options to help solve the problem.
To view the full-text Immunization article, please visit http://bit.ly/q5Yemj.
Resources
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ten great public health achievements—United States, 1900-1999. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1999;48(12):241-243. PMID: 10220250.
Additional Resources:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What Works!: increasing adult vaccination rates. Revised May 25, 2010. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/rate-strategies/adultstrat.htm
Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2020 topics & objectives: immunizations and infectious diseases. HealthyPeople.gov Website.http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/objectiveslist.aspx?topicId=23
Trust for America's Health, Infectious Disease Society of America, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Adult immunization: shots to save lives. February 2010.http://healthyamericans.org/assets/files/TFAH2010AdultImmnzBrief13.pdf
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