Increased Use of Pneumococcal Vaccination in a Medicine Clinic Following Initiation of a Quality Assessment Monitor

Abstract

To determine the use of pneumococcal vaccination in a general medicine ambulatory clinic and the effect of a quality assessment monitor on use. A prospective 8-month (October 1990 through May 1991) survey and 8-month (October 1989 through May 1990) retrospective survey of use of pneumococcal vaccination in the clinic. A general medicine clinic where patients are seen for their first internal medicine clinic visit at The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa. One thousand sixty adult patients who presented to the clinic during the study interval. The use of the form constituted an intervention. Use of pneumococcal vaccination was increased more than 5 times over the baseline level following implementation of the quality assessment monitor. Underuse of pneumococcal vaccination occurred in this general medicine clinic, and the introduction of a quality assessment monitor constituted an intervention that significantly increased the use of pneumococcal vaccination.