Disclosures: The following people have nothing to disclose: Colleen Flanigan, Rachel Hart-Malloy Background & aims: Hepatitis A (HAV) and hepatitis B (HBV) vaccinations in patients with chronic liver disease are accepted as standard MAPK Inhibitor Library in vivo of care and several professional societies have recently proposed vaccination rates as a quantifiable measure of quality of care. We determined HAV and HBV vaccination recommendation rates
in a tertiary care referral hepatology clinic and the impact of electronic health record (EHR)-based reminders on adherence to vaccination guidelines. Methods: We reviewed the records of 705 patients with chronic liver disease referred to our liver clinic in 2008 with at least two follow-up visits during the subsequent year. Demographics, referral source, etiology, and hepatitis serology were recorded. We determined whether eligible patients were offered vaccination and whether patients received vaccination. Barriers to vaccination were determined by a follow-up telephone interview. We obtained prior approval from the University of Pittsburgh selleck products Medical Center Quality Improvement Committee for this study. Results: In patients with chronic liver disease, HAV and HBV serologic testing
was performed in just 14.5% and 17.7%, respectively, prior to their referral to the liver clinic,. After evaluation in the liver clinic, the overall rates of HAV and HBV testing increased to 76.7% and 74%, respectively. Hepatologists recommended HAV vaccination in 63% and HBV vaccination in 59.7% of eligible patients. Patient demographics or disease etiology did not influence recommendation rates. Significant variability was observed in vaccination recommendation rates amongst individual providers (30–98.6%) within the same practice and no correlation was found with patient volume. A computer-based vaccination reminder for Medicare patients with
hepatitis C infection failed to increase vaccination recommendation rates in that cohort. Most patients that were offered vaccination but failed to get them, gave no specific reason for their noncompliance other than lack of awareness regarding the importance of vaccinations. Insurance coverage was a barrier to vaccination Paclitaxel in only a minority of patients. Conclusions: Hepatitis vaccination rates in patients with chronic liver disease are very low in the community and suboptimal even in an academic, sub-speciality clinic. There is wide-variability in provider adherence to vaccination guidelines and does not correlate with patient volume. As adherence to vaccination guidelines is adopted as a quality metric for gastroenterologists, further research is urgently needed to understand and overcome barriers to hepatitis vaccinations in patients with chronic liver disease.