Documenting the Missed Opportunity Period for Influenza Vaccination in Office-based Settings

Abstract

Missed opportunities for influenza vaccination in office-based settings occur when patients (who are inclined to accept influenza vaccination if a provider recommends it) remain unvaccinated after a fall/winter healthcare visit. Healthcare providers can be very influential in encouraging patients to obtain influenza vaccination, but little is known in real-time during annual campaigns of how many and what type of providers are actually giving vaccinations in office settings. We propose a new metric derived from electronic healthcare claims that provides a near-real-time estimate of % of providers who are administering influenza vaccines in office-based settings.