FQHC Improvement in Adult Pneumococcal Immunization Rates in Tennessee- Replicating a Successful Model

Tennessee is one of the poorest states with a large African American population, a sizable rural population and pneumococcal immunization rates below those for the U.S. population as a whole. The goal of this project is to replicate the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians (NJAFP) education model to provide quality improvement (QI) support to ten Federally Qualified Health Clinics (FQHC) offering primary care services using an Electronic Health Record (EHR), and to increase pneumococcal immunization rates in at-risk rural and urban adults age 19 and older. Qsource has secured letters of participation from FQHC organizations made up of multiple practice sites, and will also partner with the Tennessee Primary Care Association (TPCA) to identify additional practices in counties with the lowest immunization rates who provide access to medical services to the target population. The duration of this project is 12 months. 

 

Qsource will: 1) recruit 10 primary care FQHC practices with an EHR in rural/underserved areas; 2) attend two training sessions; 3) initially assess each practice, collect baseline and re-measurement data and provide feedback to participants; 4) provide three educational sessions using the NJAFP model and other tools and resources as needed; 5) provide ongoing QI support to the practices; 6) increase pneumococcal screening rates in patients age 19 and older by a minimum of 5%; and 7) disseminate best practices, tools and resources to improve pneumococcal immunization rates.