John Epling, MD, MSEd
What does it mean to be a medical home? In these times of Accountable Care Organizations, patient-centered medical home (PCMH) certifications, and Medicaid Redesign projects it can be easy to lose sight of a meaningful way to measure our progress toward becoming a PCMH. Examining our practices’ ability to deliver vaccinations across the lifespan can help us understand where we fall along the medical home spectrum.
Pamela Rockwell, DO
This is part of a series by the STFM Group on Immunization Education for National Immunization Awareness Month.
The CDC estimates that vaccinations will prevent more than 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 deaths among children born in the last 20 years. The Affordable Care Act requires health plans to cover Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) immunization recommendations made after September 2009 without cost-sharing to patients.
Margot Savoy, MD, MPH
This is part of a series by the STFM Group on Immunization Education for National Immunization Awareness Month.
Immunization conversations can be a challenge even for the most experienced family physician. Even when both the physician and patient agree on the benefit of vaccination, the discussion may require navigating a complicated mix of public health, infectious disease, and immunology interspersed with patient fears about safety and benefit. Fitting that neatly into an already jam-packed 15-minute encounter can be difficult.
