From Data to Action: Bee Well Medical Clinic Takes a Proactive Approach to Tetanus Immunization
A local Primary Care Quality Improvement Success Story
How do we know which patients are due for a tetanus immunization?
For the team at Bee Well Kamloops Medical Clinic, the answer was not always straightforward. Incomplete or outdated immunization information in the electronic medical record (EMR) made it difficult to reliably identify patients who might be due for immunization.
Rather than waiting for immunization needs to come up during individual appointments, the team saw an opportunity to take a proactive, population-based approach to preventive care—using their EMR data to identify patients who needed follow-up and create a process that could be sustained over time.
The Aim: Find Patients Who May Be Due
Over a four-month period, the Bee Well team used EMR searches to identify patients aged 25 and older who either had no tetanus immunization documented or had no documented tetanus immunization within the previous 10 years.
The goal was to contact 100% of identified patients, update immunization records where possible, support patients who were due for immunization in booking an appointment and develop a sustainable recall process for future preventive care.
The Impact: Turning Data Into Action
At baseline, 526 patients did not have an up-to-date tetanus immunization documented in their chart.
Following the intervention:
- 100% of identified patients were contacted.
- The number of patients without up-to-date tetanus immunization documentation decreased from 526 to 385—a 27% reduction.
- 48 patients booked an appointment for tetanus immunization through a new Friday immunization clinic.
- 204 patients did not respond to outreach.
The remaining 181 patients may have declined immunization, or may have begun the process of updating their immunization records with the clinic.
The project highlights the distinction between immunization status and immunization documentation. The absence of a vaccine record in the EMR does not necessarily mean a patient is unvaccinated. For the Bee Well team, improving the quality and completeness of the record was therefore an important part of the intervention.
The Bigger Lesson: Better Data Can Drive Better Preventive Care
This project was an opportunity to strengthen both immunization documentation and proactive preventive care delivery.
One of the key learnings from the project was the importance of high-quality, detailed clinical data. With support from the Practice Support Program, the clinic used advanced EMR searches to identify patients requiring follow-up—turning information that was previously difficult to act on into a practical tool for preventive care.
The project demonstrates how primary care teams can use EMR data and population-based approaches to move from opportunistic care to proactive panel management. Rather than relying solely on patients presenting for appointments, the team was able to identify a defined population, systematically reach out to them and establish a process that can be adapted for future preventive care initiatives.
