Improving Pneumococcal Vaccination Rates David Diamant MD, Molly Benedum MD Center for Family Medicine Aim The aim is to increase awareness of pneumococcal infections including PNA and invasive diseases as bacteremia and meningitis among office physicians/nurses/ancillary staff to facilitate higher immunization rates of the adult populations at The Center for Family Medicine. This intervention primarily focuses on adults 65 and older but also increasing rates in the younger at risk population. Introduction Despite longstanding and annually updated CDC recommendations (U.S. Adult Immunization Schedule), vaccination coverage of the Pneumococcal vaccination in persons aged and 65 and older is low. The 2014 Surveillance Survey from The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) calculated pneumococcal vaccination coverage among high risk persons aged years was 20.3% and among all adults 65 and older was 61.3%. At the Center for Family Medicine, prior to initiation of this awareness program, pneumococcal vaccination coverage of adults 65 and older was 26.9%. As a comparison, the pneumococcal vaccination coverage at a similar UMG practice, the Internal Medicine Clinic, among the same target population of adults 65 and older, was higher than the national average at 71%. This reveals a large and improvable discrepancy not only relative to the national average but locally within the Greenville Health System. Methods Define the at risk patient quantify the deficit analyze the problem improve the quality at CFM. Educational sessions focusing on target patient populations and the benefits of pneumococcal vaccination were conducted for providers and office staff during didactic hours; additionally, flyer placement in exam rooms aimed to improve both physician and patient awareness. Data was mined and analyzed from ECW and EPIC EMR to obtain average vaccination rates for national and system wide comparison. Improvement will be accomplished through increased staff and patient awareness. Results Data mines calculated the percentage of patients 65 and older who have ever received a pneumococcal vaccine from ECW and Epic. In December 2014 at the initiation of awareness and flyer placements, the reported average annual vaccination rate was 26.9%. One year after initiation of the awareness and flyer placement, rates increased to 33%.. Conclusion Center wide quality improvement in the pneumococcal vaccination rates among adults aged 65 and older was achieved through educating staff and providers as well as increasing patient awareness with exam room flyers. Further improvement is needed to meet local and national average vaccination rates. Future quality improvement interventions will target at-risk adults aged as well as adults with indications for PCV13; strategies will include continued improved awareness and EMR popups. Acknowledgments Duke Spinelli: Center for Family Medicine Manager Irfan M. Asif, MD: Vice Chair Academics CFM Vaccination Review