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 Immunization Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) projects—specifically related to the delivery of immunizations. Immunization CQI projects are designed to positively impact processes at pharmacy practice sites across the country with regards to immunization workflow development and delivery.
The Impacting Immunization Implementation through Quality Improvement Grant will provide residents with guidelines, best practices, and ideas for developing and completing CQI projects during their residency program.
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 Immunization CQI project by November 12, 2024, via the submission portal.
Immunization CQI projects should contain the following to be considered:
- Contact Information
- Goal/Objective Statement
- Project background, needs assessment, and literature review
- Implementation
- Evaluation of Outcomes
Grant
APhA and the advisory committee will review all submissions and will select 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 2026.
General Eligibility Criteria
All applicants must be completing post-graduate training in a residency or fellowship during the application cycle. Immunization CQI projects must pertain to immunization workflow development or delivery.
Estimated Program Timeline:
- Submission of Immunization CQI project due November 12, 2024
- Notification of recipients and 50% grant disbursement: December 2024
- Interim outcomes report and final grant disbursement: March 2025
- Final outcomes report due June 2025
- Presentation of outcomes: March 2026
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 independent educational grants from Merck and GSK.
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