Mandatory Influenza Vaccination- The Virginia Mason Story

Learning Objectives for this Presentation:
At the end of the presentation the participants will be able to identify best practice techniques for implementing a mandatory influenza vaccination program.
At the end of the presentation participants will be able to discuss problem solving issues that may arise when implementing a mandatory influenza vaccination program.
At the end of the presentation participants will be able to identify key components of a mandatory influenza vaccination program.

Background:
In the fall of 2004 Virginia Mason Medical Center implemented a mandatory influenza vaccination program. Prior vaccination rates were deemed inadequate to provide maximum patient safety, so the organization took on the challenge of mandatory vaccination . This is a part of our fitness for duty policy, which also applies to :contracted service workers, vendors, volunteers, students and community providers. Due to vaccine shortage in 2004 we were unable to fully implement our policy until 2005. In 2005 and 2006 we have achieved vaccination compliance rates of 98%. This program will discuss how we implemented our policy.

Setting:
Healthcare organizations including clinics and hospitals.

Population:
Healthcare workers.

Project Description:
Healthcare professionals will be provided with a presentation that describes how our medical center implemented a mandatory vaccination program. Participants will: 1) be challenged to think about how their own organizations might initiate a mandatory program; 2) discuss the challenges organizations face when implementing a mandatory program; 3) review best practices for implementation of a successful program.

Results/Lessons Learned:
As a representative of Virginia Mason I will discuss lessons we learned while implementing a mandatory influenza vaccination program. By sharing our success story and hurdles we overcame we hope to inspire others to tackle the challenge of mandatory influenza vaccination.