Froedtert Health, Inc. Spotlight on Adult Vaccination Uptake Improvement Program
Laura Radke, MD with Rebecca Gasper, MBA are working to improve vaccination rates at Froedtert Health through accurate documentation, education, and outreach. Dr. Radke has piloted efforts at two (2) worksite clinic locations, McKinley and North Hills. McKinley is located in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin (WI), and serves the inner-city population as well as students from nearby colleges. North Hills, situated in the Milwaukee suburb of Menomonee Falls, serves a primarily white, non-Hispanic patient population.
The primary goal for Froedtert Health during the grant project was to educate and inform unvaccinated patients about the benefits of vaccines. Dr. Radke and Ms. Gasper worked to ensure all employees were educated at every encounter. These efforts required agreement and coordination with the organization’s Population Health, Pharmacy, and Data Analytics teams.
During the development process, the teams discovered that many employees did not have a primary care provider (PCP). Together, they created a process to enhance overall referrals and ensure employees received necessary immunizations and could easily obtain a PCP. When an employee visited an occupational medicine health care provider and needed a vaccination, a referral was faxed to the Froedtert Enterprise Patient Experience Center (EPEC), and the information was inputted in Epic. The EPEC reached out to the patients to assist them with getting scheduled with a PCP and getting an order to go to an onsite pharmacy to receive their immunizations.
Combatting Vaccine Hesitancy
Dr. Radke and Ms. Gasper provided training for health care providers to help strategize ways to communicate vaccine hesitancy at McKinley and North Hills. Health care providers were taught motivational interviewing skills to enable an open dialogue to better understand the employee’s concerns and provide educational pamphlets.
Before each appointment, the health care team checks the Wisconsin Immunization Registry (WIR) to confirm the employee’s immunization records status and best discuss the next steps or concerns. The educational pamphlets have QR codes to help the employees answer questions and locate available vaccinations nearby. The health care provider makes a note in the occupational health medical record or in EPIC when education was given during a preplacement physical or in Epic, during a Worker’s Comp appointment. From May 1 through August 1, 2024, 278 employees were educated. This provided a baseline to see how many employees follow up to receive their necessary vaccinations.
Future Plans
These successful initiatives to improve the overall health of the workforce will expand to five (5) additional worksite clinics. The clinics include Moorland Reserve Health Center, Tosa Health Center, West Bend Health Center, Manitowoc Health Center, and Drexel Health Center. The health care professionals will continue to provide education on influenza and COVID-19 vaccinations.
The project will begin incorporating the nursing staff who perform physicals for Froedtert Health employees. This will expand the population reach both geographically and occupationally.
ACOEM Resources for Adult Immunizations
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Standards for Adult Immunization Practice calls for healthcare professionals to help ensure that their adult patients are fully immunized. Learn more about the Standards for Adult Immunization Practice (SAIP) here.
Published on September 27, 2024