Vaccine Committee Urges HHS To Continue Efforts To Track Flu Shots For Health Workers

A key advisory group to the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) on national vaccination issues is urging the department to encourage the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to continue efforts to standardize the methodology used to measure health care personnel (HCP) influenza vaccination rates across settings. But the panel, in a Feb. 8 vote, stopped short of recommending that HHS impose new penalties to make sure hospitals comply. The recommendations come as CMS prepares to roll out a new rule next year that require