A Collaborative Program to Increase Adult Vaccination Rates in a High Risk, Urgent Care Population

The goal of this grant is to implement a multi-organization, inter-professional collaboration to implement and evaluate an intervention aimed at improving pneumococcal vaccination rates in an at-risk population in urgent care clinics. A secondary goal is to better capture vaccinations given at other medically related places. 

Jointly, UnityPoint Health-Des Moines (UPH-DM) and Drake University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (Drake) will implement a real-time, on-site vaccination reconciliation and patient education program in two UPH-DM urgent care clinics and will gather comparison data in two matched clinics. Second and Third year Drake pharmacy students will be placed in the intervention clinics and will review scheduled and/or walk-in patients’ eligibility for the pneumococcal vaccine.  If eligible they will discuss the importance of the vaccination, answer questions, and offer to have clinic staff administer the vaccine during the visit.  These students will record administered vaccinations, declined vaccinations and reason for refusal.   Assessment of student experience learning will also be made.