BACKGROUND:
In the California VFC Program, there are over 1300 participating private providers in Los Angeles County alone. Typically medical assistants are responsible for documenting temperatures for their vaccine storage units. However, during routine quality assurance reviews, VFC Representatives in Los Angeles County discovered that some of the office staff were not able to read thermometers. To evaluate this issue further, a thermometer reading log was created to survey VFC private providers in Los Angeles County.

OBJECTIVE:
To determine if private providers enrolled in the VFC Program in Los Angeles County are able to read vaccine storage unit thermometers accurately.

METHOD:
Using a thermometer reading survey log, created internally, VFC Representatives asked office staff to read both refrigerator and freezer thermometers. These data were collected each time a VFC Representative visited a provider's office. Only offices using analog thermometers were surveyed. The survey began July 2004 and will continue until all providers using analog thermometers have been assessed.

RESULT:
To date, 103 private provider offices were surveyed. Thirty-six (35%) providers were not able to properly read the vaccine storage unit thermometers.

CONCLUSION:
Although 35% of the private provider offices could not read the thermometer properly, when assessed by the VFC Representatives, the majority of the storage units were within the proper temperature range. Educating medical office staff on how to read thermometers correctly is crucial to vaccine safety and effectiveness. VFC Representatives will create and provide visual tools to office staff so that proper temperature measurements will be taken.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Recognize the need to educate medical office staff on how to read vaccine storage unit thermometers accurately.