Immunizations
Pneumonia and influenza are the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, and cause substantial morbidity and mortality among Medicare patients. For example, pneumonia accounts for nearly 600,000 Medicare patient hospitalizations each year – more than 90% of pneumonia deaths are in the population aged 65 and older. Influenza is also deadly among older Americans – it kills an estimated 20,000 each year.
Despite the fact that influenza and pneumococcal vaccines are effective, safe and Medicare Part B covered benefits, they remain underutilized.
Primaris aims to decrease the morbidity and mortality associated with pneumonia and influenza by providing proven-effective tools and resources for Missouri health care professionals. These materials, available at no charge to Missouri clinicians, improve the utilization of the pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations by facilitating physician office systems changes. To order any of our free materials, click here.
In addition, Primaris offers the following resources to staff implementing immunization quality improvement projects in their facilities:
• Access to a team of professionals certified in health care quality
• Easy-to-use and adapt quality improvement tools
• Data abstraction tools and services
• Continuous quality improvement training and services
For additional immunization resources, visit www.medqic.org. MedQIC is the Medicare Quality Improvement Community, a Web-based resource created and supported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for its Medicare National Quality Improvement Priorities. You can also contact your hospital's Primaris representative.