Maryland Healthcare Worker Influenza Initiative

Background:
Despite the CDC's recommendation of annual influenza vaccination for healthcare workers (HCW), recent data show a national vaccination coverage level of 42% among healthcare workers. To promote HCW influenza vaccination in Maryland, the Maryland Partnership for Prevention (MPP), the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), and other partners created a multi-pronged initiative to assist health care facilities in improving influenza vaccination rates among their personnel and volunteers.

Setting:
Facilities, organizations, and community providers of health care

Population:
Healthcare workers, volunteers in health care facilities

Project Description:
The Maryland Health Care Workers Influenza Initiative is a campaign that offers a toolkit, mini-grants, monthly newsletters, and technical assistance to support health facilities' efforts to immunize staff and volunteers against influenza. Local health departments, hospitals, private provider offices, colleges and universities, and other healthcare providers are eligible to become "Registered Partners" of the initiative. These partners complete a baseline survey providing information about the facility and planned strategies to promote HCW flu vaccinations and report the number of vaccinations administered and successes and challenges of their campaign. Data from the wrap-up survey is compiled to determine the vaccination rate of each facility, the overall number of vaccinations administered under the initiative, and lessons learned in promoting healthcare worker vaccinations.

Results/Lessons Learned:
Since 2005, the Maryland Healthcare Workers Influenza Initiative has experienced a 57% (from 49 to 77) increase in Registered Partner participation and 38% (from 9,632 to 13,265) increase in the number of HCWs vaccinated under the initiative.
Reported barriers to increasing HCW influenza vaccination rates include employee education and resources to provide free immunizations.
Collecting accurate vaccination rates of healthcare facilities has been a challenge given that some respondents report percentages and round numbers rather than exact number of healthcare workers vaccinated.