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Missed opportunities for flu vaccines increase rapidly after December

The percentage of patients who miss their chance to receive a flu vaccine at a primary care clinic rises after December, according to a recent study.

Researchers set out to measure the missed opportunities to vaccinate for influenza among children six months to five years, and adults 50 years and older. They assessed data from the 2010 to 2011 influenza season from six pediatric and seven adult care primary care clinics in the San Diego area. Using descriptive, graphical and proportional hazards regression methods, they analyzed a total of 1,136 children and 1,329 adults.

By March, the end of the flu season, influenza vaccination recorded coverage reached 56% for children, and 26% for adults, according to medical records. While missed opportunities were common during the entire season, they increase drastically after December. At season’s end, 30.2% of children and 44.9% of adults missed two or more opportunities to have a flu vaccine. Age, insurance type, number of visits and type of medical practice were all common characteristics associated with missed opportunities.

The results from the study indicate that for the majority of health care clinics, influenza vaccinations end in December, and are not included in the course of routine care. Policies are needed in order to boost the use of evidence based clinic operations, such as standing orders, prompts in electronic medical records, patient reminders and monitoring of missed influenza vaccination opportunities.

“From a process improvement perspective, until adult vaccinations are integrated into routine clinical practices (such as prompts from electronic medical records) [missed opportunities] will continue to abound. Influenza vaccination after the first of the year will be relegated to an afterthought,” the researchers wrote.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.