Taking Action on Asthma: Increasing Influenza Vaccination Rates in Pediatric Asthma Through Quality Improvement

Through a QI Collaborative, a school-based health center (SBHC) program was tasked with identifying ways to decrease asthma mortality and promote national asthma guidelines with evidence-based interventions. Children with asthma are at increased risk for influenza complications such as pneumonia, hospitalization, and death. Flu vaccinations reduce these morbidities.

Utilizing the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Framework, a clinical microsystems assessment and root cause analysis evaluated both enablers and barriers in improving flu vaccination rates in asthma students. Continuous quality improvement over three academic years with adaption of process efficiencies including asthma database tracking, flu vaccination rates, and asthma preventative visits was demonstrated.

The number of students with asthma who received their flu vaccination increased from 11% to 47%.

The SBHC program improved flu vaccination rates and targeted asthma preventative services. Additional successes included the adaptation of a vaccination campaign to 14 SBHCs, education on flu vaccination, and better electronic health record documentation of asthma severity.