Enhancing Immunization Rates for Senior Citizens in South Dakota Family Medicine Residency Practices.

BACKGROUND: The Sioux Falls Family Medicine Residency serves a large non-English speaking and low socioeconomic status population. We designed a quality initiative to increase influenza and pneumonia vaccination rates in our elderly patients. METHODS: The main components of the project included improved clinic workflow, physician and staff education, and heightened patient awareness of vaccination importance. For the latter, we employed posters with key points about why patients should receive the vaccines, and personalized handouts with a photo of their provider discussing the importance of receiving these vaccines. The handouts were translated into the four most common non-English languages served by our clinics. RESULTS: Following implementation of the initiative, influenza vaccination rates increased from 35 to 53 percent, PPSV23 vaccination rates increased from 62.5 to 64 percent, and most impressively, PCV13 vaccination rates increased from 40 to 60 percent. CONCLUSION: This quality improvement project demonstrated meaningful change with minimal financial and logistical investment and should be sustainable in the long-term.

Development of a New South Dakota Rural Family Medicine Residency Program.

The healthcare workforce is a priority in South Dakota. It has been estimated that 8,000 additional healthcare workers beyond those in practice in 2010 will be needed by 2020. In 2016, the South Dakota Department of Health included in its budget funds for the development of a new Rural Family Medicine Residency Training Program as one of the steps toward addressing the physician component of these workforce needs. This new program has just received its accreditation and is recruiting the inaugural class of resident physicians for the spring of 2018. This article provides a concise overview of the program's initial development.