CHRISTUS Medical Group Quality Measures
Inclusion of Sheet Listing Children’s Current Immunizations
Why is this important?
When it comes to your child’s health, preventing an illness is always better than being forced to treat it after your child has contracted it. Immunizations help prevent illnesses.
Prior to the creation of many of the vaccines available today, thousands (and sometimes millions) of children were infected with diseases that often resulted in lifelong disabilities or, even worse, death. Thankfully, we now have the ability to immunize children against deadly, preventable diseases.
Immunization success stories, however, can lead parents to think that diseases like polio, whooping cough and measles no longer exist, but they do. Because many parents today have never seen a child with measles, for example, they mistakenly may think of it as simply a “mild childhood disease.” The truth, however, is that before the vaccine became available in 1963, measles killed 3,000 US children and caused 48,000 hospitalizations annually.
That's why our providers must be diligent about vaccinating children against illnesses. The fact that we don't see certain diseases anymore doesn't mean they no longer exist; it simply means the vaccines are working. They will continue to work, however, only as long as we continue to immunize our children.
Who does this apply to?
This measure applies to CMG’s Pediatric providers (physicians, nurse practitioners and physicians’ assistants) or any providers seeing pediatric patients. Twice a year, CMG audits patient charts to be sure that a one-page sheet that lists all of the current required immunizations based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 2008 Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule is current. You can download a copy of the CDC’s 2008 Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule here. The current score listed is based on the June 2008 audit.
If a patient refuses a vaccination, it must be documented. Unless refusal is due to allergy, providers must document in patients’ charts/records that they counseled them about receiving the vaccination.
