Despite the availability of numerous Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved vaccines for use across the age spectrum and the detailed recommendations made available by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), significant clinician performance and patient health gaps persist in the area of immunizations. Many severe illnesses, or even deaths, among children, adolescents, and adults in the United States are attributable to vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs).
PROTECTcme.org (Supporting Appropriate Immunizations Across the Age Spectrum) is a collaborative educational curriculum with the mission of improving clinician performance and patient health associated with immunizations across the age spectrum.
Ten partners, working in cooperation with a myriad of organizations, are working to address specific unmet needs and clinical gaps in the area of vaccine-preventable disease (VPD) by improving the performance of clinicians who are currently responsible for administering immunizations to applicable childhood, adolescent, and adult patient populations.
The PROTECT™ Performance Improvement-CME activities enable practicing clinicians to assess their performance, knowledge, and practice infrastructure in immunization services and offers guidance as well as tools to bridge identified gaps.
PROTECT™ allows clinicians to choose among three different on-line modules for their performance improvement effort. Using a HIPAA-compliant, confidential platform, clinicians can evaluate how well their practice manages patient immunizations, and be guided toward resources that help to overcome barriers and initiate systems-based solutions. Each module focuses on a different age group. There is no fee to participate in these activities. These programs award AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™, American Osteopathic Association Category 1-B Credit, and American Academy of Family Physicians Prescribed Credits for physicians.
Immunization in Early Childhood
The Early Childhood Immunization PROTECT PI-CME activity assesses the performance of the clinician’s administration of appropriate vaccines as defined by the ACIP. Each participant will be asked to collect immunization data on a sampling of 60 patients total to determine the percentage of time the child two years of age had received the appropriate vaccines and what factors may be contributing to a delay or avoidance of a vaccine. The program has a variety of educational resources and tools to offer the participants to assist in coordination of care for the patients. Members of the entire health care team are eligible to utilize various office systems based resources such as patient registries and tracking mechanisms to maximize care for the patients. The American Board of Pediatrics has approved this activity as a part 4 web-based activity for Maintenance of Certification 25 points.
Immunization in Adolescence
The adolescent immunization PROTECT PI-CME activity assesses the performance of the clinician’s administration of appropriate vaccines as defined by the ACIP. Each participant will be asked to collect immunization data on a sampling of 40 patients to determine the percentage of time the adolescent received the appropriate vaccines by his or her 13th birthday and what factors may be contributing to a delay or avoidance of a vaccine.
The program has a variety of educational resources and tools to offer the participants to assist in coordination of care for the patients. The American Board of Pediatrics has approved this activity as a part 4 web based activity for Maintenance of Certification 15 points.
Immunization for High-Risk Adults
This PI-CME activity utilizes a combination of case-based self assessment surveys and chart abstraction tools to collect performance data on immunization practices and vaccination rates for high risk adults ages 19 - 74 years of age in participants’ practices. Performance measurement data is collected from 25 patient charts at both a baseline and post-intervention interval following a minimum 30-day quality improvement intervention period to assess participants’ achievement of the following objectives:
- Acknowledge the indications and recommendations for current vaccines and vaccine schedules across the high risk adult population
- Address immunization barriers frequently encountered during patient/caregiver communications regarding safety, efficacy, and possible misinformation
- Implement strategies for improving immunization rates within one‘s clinical practice, taking into account current immunization schedules and guidelines
This activity is approved by the American Board of Internal Medicine for 20 points of MOC Part IV self evaluation of practice performance credit for eligible physicians.
NCQA is pleased to offer these activities in collaboration with The University of Nebraska Medical Center, The France Foundation and CEOutcomes, Inc.
Estimated Time to Complete the Educational Activity: Each PI-CME activity should take approximately 1-6 months to complete in its entirety. This timeframe may vary slightly with each individual based upon patient caseload.
Accreditation Statement: The University of Nebraska Medical Center, Center for Continuing Education, is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The University of Nebraska Medical Center, Center for Continuing Education, designates these PI-CME activities for a maximum of 20 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Commercial Support Acknowledgement: These activities are supported by educational grants from GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer.