Local nonprofit lands federal contract to boost immunizations
A local nonprofit has won a federal contract to boost immunizations.
The HealthInsight Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization was chosen by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reduce immunization disparities and improve vaccination rates.
HealthInsight is working with doctors, home-health agencies and hospitals to improve flu, pneumonia and shingles vaccination rates among Medicare beneficiaries in Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah. The federal government aims to get 1 million previously unvaccinated Medicare recipients vaccinated; HealthInsight’s goal of 50,000 in its four-state area accounts for 5 percent of the national goal.
HealthInsight officials said they expect to have a “positive impact” on immunization rates for 24 percent to 33 percent of the region’s Medicare beneficiaries, with a focus on vulnerable populations with low vaccination levels.
Nevada has below-average vaccination rates. It had the lowest rate in the nation for flu immunization in the 2013-2014 season, with just 36.4 of residents getting the vaccine.
Contact Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com. Find @J_Robison1 on Twitter.
