Child, Adolescent, and Adult Immunization Schedules
Course #91743 - $30 -
- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
Over the past several years, there have been significant changes to the immunization schedules for children, adolescents, and adults. The approval of multiple new vaccines has increased the opportunities for preventive care for both children and adults. Yet coverage with some vaccines remains far below national goals, and outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases continue to occur. The introduction of new vaccines and additional changes to the immunization schedules make it increasingly more difficult for physicians to ensure that patients receive the recommended preventive care. This course will focus on the immunization schedules for children, adolescents, and adults, with an emphasis on vaccinations that are routine for most healthy persons. It will address the current recommendations, the rationale for the addition of new vaccines and for several potential new changes, contraindications, and precautions as identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), and methods to increase vaccination coverage in outpatient practice.
This course is designed for healthcare professionals working in all practice settings who may encourage patients to receive appropriate vaccinations and improve the overall vaccination rates.
There have been significant changes to the immunization schedules for children, adolescents, and adults, and the approval of multiple new vaccines has increased the opportunities for preventive care for both children and adults. However, coverage with some vaccines remains far below national goals, and outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases continue to occur. The purpose of this course is to provide healthcare professionals with the information necessary to identify patients who should be vaccinated and methods to increase vaccination coverage in outpatient practice.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Discuss the regulation of vaccines and identify the child, adolescent, and adult immunization schedules.
- Explain the rationale behind the addition of new vaccines and changes to existing recommendations, and differences between current vaccines and newer options in development.
- State contraindications to the administration of specific vaccines.
- Explain recent safety data regarding vaccines.
- Identify barriers to timely vaccination.
- Describe methods for maximizing vaccination coverage.
John J. Whyte, MD, MPH, is currently the Chief Medical Officer at WebMD. In this role, he leads efforts to develop and expand strategic partnerships that create meaningful change around important and timely public health issues. Previously, Dr. Whyte was the Director of Professional Affairs and Stakeholder Engagement at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research and the Chief Medical Expert and Vice President, Health and Medical Education at Discovery Channel, part of the media conglomerate Discovery Communications.
Prior to this, Dr. Whyte was in the Immediate Office of the Director at the Agency for Healthcare Research Quality. He served as Medical Advisor/Director of the Council on Private Sector Initiatives to Improve the Safety, Security, and Quality of Healthcare. Prior to this assignment, Dr. Whyte was the Acting Director, Division of Medical Items and Devices in the Coverage and Analysis Group in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS is the federal agency responsible for administering the Medicare and Medicaid programs. In his role at CMS, Dr.Whyte made recommendations as to whether or not the Medicare program should pay for certain procedures, equipment, or services. His division was responsible for durable medical equipment, orthotics/prosthetics, drugs/biologics/therapeutics, medical items, laboratory tests, and non-implantable devices. As Division Director as well as Medical Officer/Senior Advisor, Dr. Whyte was responsible for more national coverage decisions than any other CMS staff.
Dr. Whyte is a board-certified internist. He completed an internal medicine residency at Duke University Medical Center as well as earned a Master’s of Public Health (MPH) in Health Policy and Management at Harvard University School of Public Health. Prior to arriving in Washington, Dr. Whyte was a health services research fellow at Stanford and attending physician in the Department of Medicine. He has written extensively in the medical and lay press on health policy issues.
Contributing faculty, John J. Whyte, MD, MPH, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
John M. Leonard, MD
Jane C. Norman, RN, MSN, CNE, PhD
Randall L. Allen, PharmD
The division planners have disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.