Mandatory flu shots: Business group pushes hospitals to adopt policy
Hospital outlines strategy for boosting compliance
Topics: Infection Control, Quality, Performance Improvement, Safety, Service, Workforce
February 03, 2012
The National Business Group on Health (NBGH) on Thursday urged hospitals and other health care facilities to enforce mandatory flu vaccinations for their employees.
CDC statistics show that only about 63% of health care personnel reported being vaccinated against the flu during the 2010-2011 season. Other research has shown that about 25% of health workers display flu-like symptoms annually and that roughly 70% of workers still clock in despite being sick.
The not-for-profit NBGH—which represents 340 U.S. employers, including 68 of Fortune 100 companies—strongly recommended that health care facilities require flu shots as a condition of employment, barring a health complication documented by a physician or a religious objection.
Health care facilities with mandatory flu vaccination policies typically report immunization rates of 90% or higher. However, only 13% of U.S. health workers are employed by institutions that have such policies, says Don Wright, deputy assistant secretary for health care quality at HHS.
"Transmission of seasonal influenza between health care workers and patients is a significant patient and worker safety issue," says NBGH CEO Helen Darling. "Failure to prevent the transmission of seasonal flu between health care workers and patients also increases health costs."
Darling also suggests that employers exclude health care facilities from their lists of preferred provider organizations if they do not enforce mandatory flu shot policies. "Vaccinated employees are more productive employees," she says.
How one hospital boosted vaccination rates
At an NBGH briefing on Thursday, Jeannette Clough, CEO of Massachusetts-based Mount Auburn Hospital, explained how her facility increased its immunization rate from 70% to 92%.
According to CQ HealthBeat, the hospital's employees are expected to receive a flu vaccination or wear a mask during flu season. Clough says Mount Auburn takes "a little bit of a scarlet letter approach" by requiring workers to wear a badge that indicates whether they have been inoculated (NBGH release, 2/2; Kulkarni, "Capsules," Kaiser Health News, 2/2; AHA News, 2/2; Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 2/2 [subscription required]).
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