Quality Improvement: An ACQIP Exercise on Vaccine Administration: Subscriber Responses and Recommendations

Abstract

In last month's issue of Pediatrics in Review, we presented a self-assessment exercise on vaccine administration from the Ambulatory Care Quality Improvement Program (ACQIP) of the American Academy of Pediatrics. This ongoing program provides participants with summaries of all responses and with the appropriate answers to the questions in each exercise.

The vaccine administration exercise was distributed in the 1992 to 1993 program, and more than 2000 ACQIP subscribers completed the survey. Their responses are summarized below, and the recommended response to each question is provided. Readers are encouraged to review their answers and compare them with this information. Quality pointers on vaccine administration and practical suggestions from subscribers also are presented.

Subscriber Responses

Question 1: Which of the following apply to your immunization practice? Recommended Response: All of the statements are recommended immunization practices.

National Rates: 96% of the respondents indicated that their practices schedule immunizations in conjunction with appointments for other child care services, 71% said that they use all clinical encounters to screen for immunizations, 87% said that all scheduled immunizations are given simultaneously at the time of each visit, 87% said that parents/guardians are asked routinely about contraindications and adverse reactions, and more than 95% said that they tell parents/guardians where to obtain medical care after hours in the event of adverse reactions.