FLU SEASON Ever consider linking influenza vaccinations to salary increases?

MONEY TALKS
How to Convince Your Staff to Get Flu $hots

If you’re struggling like we were to convince your employees to get flu shots, you might want to follow our creative solution — make influenza vaccination a condition of a pay raise. That’s right: To be eligible for annual salary increases, staff members must either be vaccinated or submit requests for legitimate religious or health exemptions.

We didn’t want to make vaccination a condition of employment, but we were struggling to convince more employees to get flu shots. During the 2011-2012 flu season, our success rates were only 65% and 71%. We asked ourselves, “If getting vaccinated is the right thing to do for our patients, why don’t we have higher participation levels?”

Before we tied flu shots to paychecks, we tried a different approach that didn’t work nearly as well. We told staff members they either had to get vaccinated or wear masks during influenza season every time they were within 6 feet of others. Our success rate actually zoomed up to 89%, but the masks were a problem. Staff morale suffered (they viewed the masks as punitive), compliance was difficult to monitor, masks were often worn inappropriately and anecdotal evidence suggested that overall compliance was low. We also knew that evidence supporting the value of masks in preventing the spread of influenza in hospitals was lacking.

Before the most recent flu season, we linked vaccination compliance to each employee’s wage. We also prioritized communication and education, posting on our intranet the revised policy and articles that explained the reasons behind it. Our physician leader even took the time to meet with employees who expressed concern about the policy. That really made a difference. The willingness to respectfully address the concerns of a vocal minority seemed to soften resistance among staff members as a whole. The result: During the 2013-2014 flu season, our vaccination rate was 94%.

Mark W. Kehrberg, MD, MS
Ministry Health Care
Oshkosh, Wis.
[email protected]