Our Quick Guides help you find asthma patients and text message them to get them in for a flu shot

Flu season is upon us.  While the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that current influenza activity is low, the number of reported cases typically begins to increase in October.  Given that it takes about two weeks for an annual influenza vaccine to offer protection once it is administered, the CDC recommends patients be vaccinated now.

Asthmatic patients at high risk of flu complications

Some patients – such as young children, pregnant women and nursing home residents – are at high risk for flu complications, such as pneumonia, bronchitis, and sinus infections.   For patients with chronic conditions, the flu can trigger more severe condition-specific symptoms.

Patients managing asthma are one of those high risk groups for flu complications; flu puts them at an elevated risk for asthma attacks.

The CDC reports that asthma is the “most common medical condition among children hospitalized by the flu and one of the more common medical conditions among hospitalized adults.”  This is because influenza further inflames the already-sensitive airways of patients with asthma, which can lead to a range of consequences including asthma attacks and pneumonia.

Finding – and texting – your patients with asthma who have not had vaccines

Administering flu vaccines for asthma patients is the first line of defense against dangerous flu complications.   A Quality Improvement team can provide important support to physicians by identifying patients with asthma who have not had flu vaccines.

Once those patients have been identified, a variety of outreach efforts can be coordinated to bring them into the clinic.  Practices using the Care Management tools in Arcadia Analytics can even launch a text message outreach campaign to remind patients about coming in for a flu shot.

Arcadia Analytics Quick Guides

We’ve created Quick Guides to help you use Arcadia Analytics to:

  • Find patients with asthma who have not had flu vaccines
  • Send a flu vaccine reminder via text message to get these high risk patients – and others – into your practice

Please complete this short form, and links to the guides will be emailed to you immediately.


Jennifer Polello, MPHA, MCHES, PCMH CCE

Jennifer is the Director of Product Training at Arcadia Healthcare Solutions, with over 20 years of experience across the healthcare continuum in the areas of public health, chronic disease management, quality improvement, health policy, clinical informatics and project management.  Her extensive knowledge and leadership has enabled Arcadia client success on complex enterprise clinical transformation and care coordination projects.   She is an expert facilitator, leading teams of clinicians, nurses and physicians through the transformation and improvement process of patient care in the ambulatory setting through multiple projects throughout her career.

Jennifer has worked on regional health information exchange (HIE) projects and assisted in the design of a clinical decision support tool for patients with type 2 diabetes.  She has also created and implemented online learning modules for clinical transformation and adoption of electronic medical record systems.  Jennifer has a Master’s degree in Health Policy and Administration from Washington State University and is a PCMH Certified Content Expert.  She brings that knowledge and experience across multiple clinical settings to enhance the training and implementation of Arcadia’s core products.     Under Jennifer’s leadership, Arcadia Analytics clients have been able to use training as a way to move closer to their strategic goals.

October 12, 2016

Questions on the Quick Guides?

Do you want to set up a flu outreach program to target your high risk patients, but need more information about using Arcadia Analytics? You can send your questions to our training team at askthetrainer@arcadia.io – we’ll be happy to get you moving in the right direction.

And if you’d like to learn more about text message-based outreach, please check out our Patient Outreach functionality.

Learn More about Patient Outreach