8 Tips for an Efficient On-Site Flu Clinic

It is in your company’s best interest to host an on-site flu clinic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the flu causes U.S. employees to miss approximately 17 million workdays due to flu, at an estimated $7 billion a year in sick days and lost productivity.

By mid-January of 2019, the agency reported that between 6 million and 7 million people had been sick with the flu, with half of those cases seeking medical attention for their symptoms.

The CDC has reported that the 2018-2019 influenza vaccination had a 47% efficacy rate, making it one of the most effective vaccinations against the flu to date. According to a study published by the agency in 2018, during the 2016-2017 flu season, the flu vaccine prevented an estimated 5.3 million influenza illnesses, 2.6 million medical visits related to influenza and over 85,000 influenza-associated hospitalizations.

As an employer, by implementing an on-site flu clinic, you are not only keeping employees at work while they get the shot, eliminating the need to leave for doctor’s appointments, but you are retaining workers who otherwise may be out sick for several days with the flu virus. On-site flu clinics decrease absenteeism and loss of employee productivity due to illness.

To ensure your on-site flu clinic reaches its maximum potential, follow these 8 tips:

• Ensure employees understand the importance of the flu shot. Explain how easily the virus can spread through the workplace. Share facts about the flu and how vital vaccination is via your company newsletter, on bulletin boards, in meetings and communal space posters. Be sure to start your flu clinic communications early, before flu season begins around mid-October.
• Impress upon employees that getting the flu shot protects not just them but also their families, coworkers and all those with whom they share space and interaction.
• Schedule your flu clinic at a convenient time for your company. Ensure the clinic falls on a day when there are no company-wide events or major meetings and ensure the clinic runs through the lunch hour, for those who may have no other time of day to leave their desk. Set appointment times 5 minutes apart to ensure no one waits in line for their turn, maximizing everyone’s time.
• Utilize your company’s wellness champions, those who promote your wellness program and all it has to offer, to spread the word both about the clinic and the importance of getting the shot. Also ensure upper management is invested in the initiative as they can be influential advocates for any workplace initiative.
• Consider turning your flu clinic into a wellness event, including biometric screenings or perhaps a wellness fair on the same day. This will engage far more employees and only help to emphasize both the importance of taking care of employee health and the fact that you, as an employer, are invested in the well-being of your workforce.
• Create departmental challenges with rewards for the highest number of employees who attend the flu clinic, in other words, turn the event into a fun-spirited, workplace competition.
• In the days leading up to the clinic, ensure you have confirmed all information with your provider service, including the number of employees attending/shots required and how the record taking will transpire. Remind employees about the clinic beforehand and to dress appropriately (i.e. short sleeves or sleeves that can be rolled up).
• On the day of the clinic, ensure you have reserved an easily accessible area for the clinic, ensure your nurses who are administering the shots are taken care of throughout the day, have consent forms ready, water for those who may get light headed, pens and trash cans available in the clinic area.

You can count on Midland Health for your customized, flexible, affordable on-site flu shot clinic that meets your needs. Midland has provided clinics for hundreds of employers over the last decade and have the logistics, processes and resources in place to ensure your success, nation-wide. Midland is also nationally approved for Medicare, and offer on-site flu shot services to senior living and intermediate care facilities. Click here for a free quote.