Providers need to become more aware of the vaccination needs of their adult patients. Planners also need to consider barriers, resources, and ways to measure results. Vaccinating medical staff is a strategy appropriate for every setting. Admission to a nursing home can include a review of the resident's pneumococcal vaccination status, as well as a standing order for the person's annual flu shot. Discharge planning in hospitals may include standing orders to assess vaccination status and to provide shots as needed.
Emergency departments can do similar checking and immunization.
Indeed, immunization record keeping is a key element in raising immunization levels among adults as well as children. Increasingly, medical settings and communities are using computerized tracking systems to help monitor immunization coverage. Healthy People 2000 sets several objectives tied to adult immunization, including pneumococcal disease. During the period 1980-1992, pneumonia accounted for 85 percent of fatal respiratory infections among persons aged 65 and older. Although the pneumococcal vaccine is safe, efficacious, and cost effective, only 30 percent in this age group have been vaccinated.