Blog : Accelerating trend of near universal healthcare worker flu vaccination
“No one wanted to be at the bottom of that bulb.”
- Tim Stone
Chief Operating Officer
Decatur Memorial Hospital
Past Flu Shot Percentage Reports:
Public reporting has consistently been shown to be a significant driver for change.
"Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants,” said U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis.
Public reporting shines a light on healthcare, creating transparency, which then creates provider competition based on quality. The absence of transparency and competition (on the right things) is often cited as reasons why the U.S. healthcare system is flawed and its price tag unsustainable.
“What gets measured, gets managed,” said Gail Amundson, Quest CEO. “We all strive to be the best. Public reporting makes gaps visible so we can improve. If we didn’t time our race, we’d all think we were the fastest people in the world.”
In observance of National Influenza Vaccination Week (Dec. 4 to 10), Quest continues its reporting of the percentage of vaccinated employees at regional hospitals with the Flu Shot Percentage Report for the 2011-2012 flu season. It starts with October 2011 data and will be updated monthly through March 2012.
Higher percentages are expected this year as several regional hospitals have implemented universal employee vaccination policies. Exceptions to these policies include those with a medical or religious reason not to participate. Those who do not get vaccinated must wear a mask. See Report Methodology under Keeping Patients Safe on the Quest Quality Reports page for a list of participating hospitals.
Internal barriers often limit efforts to implement these policies within organizations. Public reporting helps organizations overcome these barriers at little cost, according to Amundson.
“This shows the power of transparency and collaboration to change healthcare,” she said.
“OSF had been working on (improving employee flu vaccination rates) for many years, using all the best strategies - education, incentives, requiring declination forms and reasons - and we still weren’t seeing the performance we should be achieving to protect patients,” said Dr. Ralph Velazquez, Senior Vice President of Care Management at OSF Healthcare System.
Velazquez recommended developing an employee vaccination rate report to Quest, which began collecting data volunteered by hospitals in 2009. Each season since, the percentage of vaccinated employees for each hospital is plotted along a thermometer, with the higher performing hospitals showing at the top.
“No one wanted to be at the bottom of that bulb,” said Tim Stone, Chief Operating Officer at Decatur Memorial Hospital. The thermometer graph circulated through each organization. Some posted it on bulletin boards or elevators.
For the first time, providers saw how they compared to others, knowing that this information was open to the public. The data externalized the issue, changing the discussion to one regarding the organization’s reputation, according to Amundson.
All OSF Healthcare System hospitals, Decatur Memorial Hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital in Decatur, St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, and Proctor Hospital in Peoria have implemented universal employee vaccination policies for the 2011 / 2012 flu season.
“Once you’ve exhausted all the best practices, then you have public reporting – another reason to move to the new policy. And that is a good reason because it is a local reason,” said Velazquez.
It was still a challenge to be among the first to take the next step.
“We are pushing our own organizations to be leaders and we took flack. We had some providers questioning ‘why are you doing this when no one else is doing it,’ but that is part of leadership,” said Velazquez.
In the end, it is about the patient. Public reporting allows for patients to be more informed consumers of their healthcare.
“The emergence of consumer-driven healthcare has brought about the need for greater transparency and public reporting in order to provide vital information to the public so that informed healthcare decisions can be made,” said Stone. “Regional collaboratives such as Quality Quest are a vital, necessary component in this ever-changing healthcare landscape.”