Impacting Immunization Implementation through Quality Improvement Grant
Continuous Quality Improvement Projects in Immunizations
Welcome to the Impacting Immunization Implementation through Quality Improvement Grant page for PGY1 community-based pharmacy residents.
APhA is excited to offer multiple awards for continuous quality improvement (CQI) projects related to the delivery of immunizations. The Impacting Immunization Implementation through Quality Improvement Grant will provide residents with guidelines, best practices, and ideas on developing and completing their CQI projects. This project will not only assist residents in meeting the CQI requirement of their residency program, but is also designed to positively impact processes at pharmacy practice sites across the country with regards to immunization workflow development and delivery.
Resources to Get Started on Your CQI Project
Steps to Starting a Quality Improvement Project
- Immunization case study examples
- Links to additional resources
Submission Guidelines
To be considered for the APhA Impacting Immunization Implementation through Quality Improvement Grant, you must submit your initial CQI project proposal and provide an overview of the planned project by February 15, 2024, via the submission portal. Submission of full outcomes data must be submitted by June 15, 2024.
CQI project proposals should be submitted by February 15, 2024, and contain the following to be considered:
- Contact Information
- Goal/Objective Statement (300 word maximum)
Submission of full application with final outcomes is due June 15, 2024:
- Project background and needs assessment
- Implementation
- Evaluation of Outcomes
Grant
APhA and the advisory committee will review all submissions and will select 5 recipients to receive a grant in the amount of $5,000. Grant recipients will be invited to present outcome findings at APhA’s Annual Meeting and Exposition in March 2025.
General Eligibility Criteria
All applicants must be completing post-graduate training in a residency or fellowship during the application cycle. CQI projects must pertain to immunization workflow development or delivery.
Estimated Program Timeline:
- Interest form closes February 15, 2024, at 11:59 PM
- Submission of full application with final outcomes by June 15, 2024, at 11:59 PM
- Notification of recipients: July 2024
- Presentation of outcomes: March 2025
History
The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) is the national professional society of pharmacists in the U.S. APhA represents the nation’s third largest health profession, comprised of more than 300,000 pharmacy practitioners, scientists, student pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians. For more than 25 years, APhA has been an active and visible organization advocating for increased immunization and public health roles for pharmacists, serving as subject matter experts, and collaborating with other stakeholders within the “Immunization Neighborhood.” APhA’s work supports the pharmacist’s role as an educator, facilitator, and vaccinator. The long-term impact of this work is highlighted within the pharmacy profession’s work in the COVID-19 pandemic during which most COVID-19 vaccines were administered by pharmacy teams.
The APhA certificate training program “Pharmacy-based Immunization Delivery” has become the gold standard of immunization training for pharmacists and student pharmacists in the delivery of immunization services across the lifespan, training over 450,000 pharmacists. With this immunization delivery program being taught in most pharmacy school curriculums, new practitioners are armed with the training they need to implement immunization programs in their practice setting. For new practitioners pursuing a post-graduate residency or fellowship, a quality improvement component is often required for successful program completion. These residency programs are extremely competitive and offer a unique experience for pharmacists to apply the knowledge and skills they have learned to real patients, situations, and practice settings.
The Impacting Immunization Implementation through Quality Improvement Grant is supported by an independent educational grant from Merck.
Questions
Please contact Ellyn Terry, Director of Education, at eterry@aphanet.org with any questions.
References
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Needs Assessment. Accessed on: June 17, 2023. Available at: https://digital.ahrq.gov/health-it-tools-and-resources/evaluation-resources/workflow-assessment-health-it-toolkit/all-workflow-tools/needs-assessment