Pneumonia is deadly and preventable. There were approximately 50,000 deaths from pneumonia in the U.S. in 2010, and there are 1.2 million hospitalizations for pneumonia each year. However, only 62 percent of those 65 years of age and older had received a pneumonia vaccination (CDC, 2013). In addition, home health agencies are accountable for ensuring eligible patients receive a flu shot each flu season.  The Home Health Compare measure, "How often the home health team made sure that their patients have received a flu shot for the current flu season," is used in calculation of Home Health Star Ratings.

As a patient safety and continuity of care effort, home health organizations can use the VNAA Blueprint tools and resources available here to make assessing status of flu and pneumonia vaccination a consistent best practice.

How to use these resources:

For pneumonia improvement, start with the training program, Pneumonia Vaccination - VNAA Best Practice for Home Health, which offers an overview of resources available through the Pneumonia Vaccine best practice topic area.

The training program learning objectives are as follows:

• Discuss the percentage of adults over 65 years who have received a pneumonia vaccine.

• Discuss a critical intervention for a pneumonia program.

• Discuss an important resource for up-to-date information on pneumonia and pneumonia vaccination.

Strategies to improve flu shot coverage are discussed in the Tools and Critical Interventions section. Explore information to improve flu and pneumonia shot coverage in the sections on resources, critical interventions and measurement and evaluation tools by clicking on the boxes above.