Improving Influenza Vaccination in Dialysis Facilities

Abstract

The End-Stage Renal Disease Network 5 sought to improve the influenza vaccination rate for the period September 1, 2008, to January 31, 2009, through an awareness campaign, coupled with primary data collection in the form of a tracking tool prepopulated with patient names. The latter served as a reminder to staff to determine the immunization status of patients and offer the influenza vaccination, as appropriate. Targets for the intervention were all facilities and their prevalent hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients, with the exclusion of military treatment centers, Veterans Health Administration hospitals, and prisons. The majority of eligible network facilities (86.9%) participated in the project to achieve an overall adult influenza vaccination rate of 82.6% (95% confidence interval = 82.1%, 83.2%), greatly exceeding the project goal of 64.5% and representing substantial progress toward the 2010 goal of 90%. The initiative is reported here using the Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE).