The Pediatric Medical Home Port Team of the Adm. Joel T. Boone Branch Health Clinic received the 2016 Vikki Garner Memorial Award for Excellence in Quality Improvement for their Vaccination Compliance Initiative on April 5.

The program was developed to address the compliance rate for immunizations in 19 to 35 month-old children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a recommended vaccine schedule in 2015 for 19 to 35 month-olds, and it was discovered that the national compliance rate was 72.2 percent; the compliance rate for the Commonwealth of Virginia was 64.4 percent, while Branch Health Clinic Boone was at a 63.8 percent.

In an effort to boost their compliance rate, the clinic implemented the Vaccination Compliance Initiative. This initiative created an immunization site within each of the five medical home ports at Boone.

"This initiative has also made our nurses feel more empowered," said Leanne Slagle, clinic manager. "They feel they are able to do more nursing now."

In order to create these new immunization sites, 20 employees were chosen to attend training. To become certified, the nurses spent 40 to 80 hours doing one-on-one training with a certified immunization nurse, as well as 40 hours of Defense Health Agency Immunization Modules.

In addition to training nurses, all staff received training to screen upcoming appointments to identify patients who are due for immunizations. According to Slagle, this allows them to have a secondary gain as well.

"If one of our providers happens to be running behind during an appointment, the nurse can go ahead and administer the needed immunizations while they wait," Slagle said. "They feel more engaged in their care."

The impact of the initiative raised the Branch Health Clinic Boone compliance rate from 63.8 to 94.47 percent. This initiative also increased access for active-duty personnel and retired beneficiaries at the main immunizations clinic.

The ripple effect was the rise in patient experience satisfaction at Boone. "We have gotten so many compliments about it now being a one-stop shop for their appointment and immunizations, and they just love it," Slagle said.

The award was created in memory of Garner, who died in 2007, after serving as NMCP's associate director of Health Care Quality Improvement, and who is remembered for her contributions to the culture of excellence at the medical center. The annual award is presented to an individual or a team that identifies a significant quality improvement opportunity and implements an innovative solution which improves the quality of care.

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