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Newswise DETROIT Hospitals can greatly improve their flu vaccination rate among health care workers by using a mandatory employee vaccination policy, according to a Henry Ford Health System study.

Citing its own data, Henry Ford researchers say the health system achieved employee vaccination rates of 99 percent in the first two years of its mandatory policy, in which annual vaccination compliance is a condition of employment.

Nationally, 63 percent of health care workers were immunized against the flu in the past two years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Allison Weinmann, M.D., a Henry Ford Hospital Infectious Diseases physician and study co-author, says it was only after the health system went to the mandatory policy for the 2012-13 flu season did the vaccination rate substantial improve. Ongoing employee communication and having available vaccine were also key factors, Dr. Weinmann says.

The study is being presented Saturday at the 54th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Washington D.C.

As expected we got push-back from employees. But we always believed it was the right thing to do for patient and employee safety, says Dr. Weinmann, who leads the health systems immunization task force and was an early champion of the mandatory policy.

The health and safety of our patients and employees is paramount, and requiring employees to receive vaccination every flu season will help reduce the spread of infection to our patients. We also were proactive in vaccinating hospitalized patients.

More than 9,600 people were hospitalized for the flu during the 2013-14 flu season, and 60 percent of them were between the ages 18-64, the CDC says. The CDC recommends vaccination for anyone six months and older.

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Mandatory Policy Boosts Flu Vaccination Rates Among Health Care Workers