A pharmacy resident‐driven pneumococcal vaccination protocol increases vaccination rates in hospitalized patients over 65 years

Abstract

IntroductionPneumococcal disease remains a leading cause of serious illness in adults aged 65 years and older. Despite this, pneumococcal vaccination rates remain suboptimal in this population.ObjectivesTo implement a pharmacy resident‐driven pneumococcal vaccination protocol and to assess vaccination rates and the return on investment (ROI) for patients age 65 years and older admitted to an internal medicine service at an academic medical center.MethodsA retrospective, single center review of a newly implemented pharmacy resident‐driven pneumococcal vaccination protocol targeting patients age 65 years and older admitted to an internal medicine service was conducted. The primary outcome was the percentage of eligible patients, as defined by the Center for Disease Control vaccination guidelines, who received a pneumococcal vaccine prior to discharge over a 60‐day period. The secondary outcome was ROI from the hospital perspective, which was calculated as follows: net profit (defined as total revenue—total cost) divided by total cost and then multiplied by 100. Pneumococcal vaccination rates and ROI data were presented descriptively.ResultsA total of 84 patients were included in the pharmacy resident‐driven protocol, 37 (42%) of whom were up‐to‐date on their pneumococcal vaccinations. Among the remaining 51 vaccine‐eligible patients, 33 (64.7%) were vaccinated prior to hospital discharge: 19/33 (57.6%) received the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) vaccine and 14/33 (42.4%) received the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) vaccine. The total revenue and cost generated by the protocol over the 60‐day period was $8276.10 and $6406.88, respectively. The ROI for the protocol was calculated to be 29.2%.ConclusionThe implementation of a pharmacy resident‐driven pneumococcal vaccination protocol increased pneumococcal vaccination rates while also serving as a revenue source. Health care systems may consider implementing a similar protocol to increase vaccination rates and provide novel revenue generating models for their institution.