Profession
Denver immunization program lauded
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Dec. 4, 2006
A community health center program that made big strides in its immunization rates was singled out for recognition by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in November.
Denver Health and Hospital Authority Community Health Services had low immunization rates at its primary care sites and developed a registry to track patients and improve the group's ability to vaccinate children on schedule. Denver Health's immunization rate for 1-year-olds improved 26%, while its rate for 2-year-olds jumped 46%.
The Joint Commission recognized the accomplishment with the Ernest Amory Codman Award in the ambulatory care category for the health center's use of outcomes measurement to improve health care quality.
The Denver Health initiative "proves that process and outcomes measures can be successfully translated into meaningful practices that benefit patients," Joint Commission President Dennis S. O'Leary, MD, said in a statement.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/12/04/prbf1204.htm.
