Newswise — AMGF, Optum Launch Collaborative to Improve Adult Immunization Rates
ALEXANDRIA, VA —The American Medical Group Foundation (AMGF) and Optum, with support from Pfizer, are launching a pilot collaborative to improve adult vaccination rates.
AMGF, the nonprofit education and research arm of the American Medical Group Association (AMGA), has established the Adult Immunization (AI) Best Practices Collaborative to develop specific interventions focused on pneumococcal and influenza vaccines. Seven care provider groups from around the country are participating in the collaborative.
With nearly 50,000 adults in the United States dying each year from vaccine-preventable infectious diseases or their complications,1 substantial improvement in vaccinations is needed to reduce the health consequences of vaccine-preventable diseases among adults.2 Despite strong public health recommendations supporting adult immunization for vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccination coverage levels among adults in the United States have remained relatively unchanged this past decade.3
“AMGA’s multispecialty medical group membership and their team-based care approach is well suited to challenge the status quo of flat adult vaccination rates, that up until now have seemed intractable,” said Donald W. Fisher, Ph.D., CAE, AMGA president and chief executive officer and AMGF secretary. “Through this program, our goal is to focus on an optimal mix of interventions that will help improve practice performance and public health, and reduce the clinical and economic burden of vaccine-preventable diseases.”
Medical groups and health systems participating in the AMGF Best Practices Collaborative will design and implement strategies to identify and address gaps in recommended vaccination practices using intervention tools that target care providers and patients, including patient portals, alerts, and point-of-care systems. Data from the program will be evaluated after one year to assess its impact on relevant vaccination rates and to identify best practices that can be scaled broadly.
The participating care provider groups include: Community Physician Network (Indianapolis), The Iowa Clinic, P.C. (West Des Moines, Iowa), Riverside Medical Group (Newport News, Va.), Springfield Clinic (Springfield, Ill.), Swedish American Health System (Rockford, Ill.), UMass Memorial Medical Group (Worcester, Mass.) and Watson Clinic (Lakeland, Fla.).
Using data and analytics from the Optum One Population Analytics module, Optum is providing baseline vaccination rates data for each participating group, data capture, and ongoing benchmarking and analytics for the program. This data and analysis will enable the groups to assess the performance of each healthcare provider, identify unvaccinated patients, benchmark performance against peers, and evaluate the effectiveness of ongoing vaccination initiatives.
“We are at an important crossroads where the convergence of technology and population health management techniques give us the opportunity to improve the accuracy and thoroughness of the adult immunization data we capture for this pilot program, which will allow us to better translate our findings into meaningful opportunities for improving preventive care,” said Michael Weintraub, president & CEO, Optum Analytics.
The AI Collaborative is supported by an Advisory Committee of physicians and quality improvement experts to help guide the development of the collaborative:• O.T. Adcock, Jr., M.D., Riverside Medical Group• Carl E. Johnson, M.D.., EDM, MSC., Optum Analytics• Christina Taylor, M.D., The Iowa Clinic• Patricia Thorbin, RN, BS, CPHQ, Watson Clinic• Lynette Wachholz, ARNP, CPHQ, The Everett Clinic
About AMGFThe American Medical Group Foundation (AMGF) is the 501(c)(3) affiliate of the American Medical Group Association and it supports and disseminates research on better ways to deliver health care that is scientifically sound and value-based. AMGF also develops and supports educational programs to enable all stakeholders-providers, payers, policymakers and patients to translate the evidence of what works best into everyday practice. www.amga.org/foundation
About AMGAThe American Medical Group Association (AMGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing medical groups, health systems, and other organized systems of care, including some of the nation's largest, most prestigious integrated delivery systems. AMGA is a leading voice in advocating for efficient, team-based, and accountable care. AMGA members encompass all models of organized systems of care in the healthcare industry, including: physician-owned, independent group practices, integrated delivery systems, hospital-affiliated medical groups, independent practice associations (IPAs), academic and faculty practices, accountable care organizations, and high-performing health systems. More than 150,000 physicians practice in AMGA member organizations, providing healthcare services for 120 million patients (one in three Americans). Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, AMGA is the strategic partner for these organizations, providing a comprehensive package of benefits, including political advocacy, educational and networking programs, publications, benchmarking data services, and financial and operations assistance. www.amga.org
About Optum Optum is a leading information and technology-enabled health services business dedicated to helping make the health system work better for everyone. Optum delivers intelligent, integrated solutions to modernize the health system and improve overall population health. For more information, visit www.optum.com.
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. MMWR. Adult Vaccination Coverage — United States, 2011, February 1, 2013 / 62(04);66-72, http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6204a2.htm. Accessed on February 4, 2015.2. Trust for America’s Health, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Adult Immunization: Shots to Save Lives. Washington, DC: Trust for America’s Health; February 2010.
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