Vax the Max, a Gamification Intervention for COVID-19 Vaccination Task Engagement in the Inpatient Setting

Area of Science:

• Infectious Diseases
• Public Health
• Medical Education

Background:

• Despite widespread SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, a significant portion of the US population remains unvaccinated.
• Hospitalization for non-COVID-19 illnesses presents a missed opportunity for vaccinating unvaccinated individuals.
• A specific hospital observed a decline in COVID-19 vaccine administration among internal medicine inpatients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of a gamification program on COVID-19 vaccination rates in hospitalized internal medicine patients.
• To evaluate resident engagement with gamified vaccination tasks and their perception of the program's utility.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of "Vax the Max," a gamification program awarding points to internal medicine resident teams for COVID-19 vaccination tasks.
• Anonymous surveys administered to residents post-participation to gauge engagement and future applicability of gamification.
• Tracking of vaccine doses administered per 4-week plan-do-study-act cycle before and after program implementation.

Main Results:

• COVID-19 vaccination rates in internal medicine inpatients increased from 5.3 to 8.8 doses per 4-week cycle post-"Vax the Max" implementation.
• 76.8% of participating residents reported increased engagement with COVID-19 vaccination tasks.
• 66% of residents believed gamification could be applied to other clinical tasks.

Conclusions:

• The "Vax the Max" gamification program successfully enhanced COVID-19 vaccine administration rates in a challenging inpatient setting with high resident turnover.
• Gamification can effectively drive engagement among resident physicians for quality improvement initiatives.
• Further exploration of gamification for quality improvement and patient safety in medical residency is warranted.