title: Improving health care workers for seasonal influenza vaccination at university health system: a paradigm for closing the quality chasm.
abstract: Significant gaps in quality and patient safety in the US health-care system have been identified and were reported in the past decade by the Institute of Medicine. Despite recognition of these gaps in "knowing versus doing," change in health care is slow and difficult. The quality improvement and clinical safety movement is increasing among US medical centers. Our health science center implemented the UT System Clinical Safety and Effectiveness course, providing project-based teaching of quality-improvement tools and principles of patient safety. A quality-improvement project that increased healthcare workers' influenza vaccination rate by 17.8% from that in 2008 to a rate of 76.6% in 2009 serves as a paradigm of how physicians can lead quality-improvement project teams to narrow the quality chasm (1). Local efforts to narrow the chasm are discussed in the present paper, including inter-professional education in quality improvement and clinical safety.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive MC7980, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA. pattersoni@uthscsa.edu
authors.forename: Jan E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.forename: Jose
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cadena
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Prigmore
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bowling
authors.forename: Beth Ann
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Ayala
authors.forename: Leni
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kirkman
authors.forename: Amruta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Parekh
authors.forename: Theresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Scepanski
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000592:standards; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs; D017757:Infectious Disease Transmission, Professional-to-Patient / Q000517:prevention & control; D007252:Influenza Vaccines; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D009786:Occupational Health Services / Q000592:standards; D058996:Quality Improvement; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012621:Seasons; D013781:Texas; D000078329:Workforce
chemical_list: D007252:Influenza Vaccines