Adult immunization: the medical record design as a facilitator for physician compliance

A three-year prospective chart audit of a family practice residency program was performed to measure physician compliance in following the recommendations of an adult immunization program. Despite curriculum changes, performance self-evaluation, and reminders by faculty members to residents about the need for adult immunization, physician compliance was poor in the second year of the study. It was thought that components of the medical record might be improved to facilitate physician compliance in the adult immunization program. At the beginning of the third year of the audit, tetanus and pneumococcal vaccines were preprinted on the health maintenance inventory (HMI), but influenza was not. The chart design also was changed to put the HMI in a more prominent place. In the third year of the audit, physician compliance with tetanus and pneumococcus immunization improved significantly. The results of the chart review suggest that physician compliance with adult immunization programs can be improved with appropriate chart design.