Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan.
Vice-Chair, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan.
J Am Coll Radiol. 2022 Mar;19(3):437-445. doi: 10.1016/j.jacr.2021.11.002. Epub 2021 Nov 20.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine mandates are being implemented in health systems across the United States, and the impact on the radiology department workforce and operations becuase of vaccine hesitancy among health care workers is currently unknown. This article discusses the potential impact of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on a large multicenter radiology department as well as strategies to mitigate those effects.
Weekly vaccine compliance data were obtained for employees across the entire health system from August 17, 2021, through September 13, 2021, and radiology department-specific data were extracted. Vaccine compliance data was mapped to specific radiology job titles and the five different hospital locations.
A total of 6% of radiology department employees were not fully vaccine compliant by the initial deadline of September 10, 2021. MR technologists and radiology technology assistants had the highest initial rates of noncompliance of 37% and 38%, respectively. Vaccine noncompliance rates by the mandate deadline ranged from 0.5% to 7.0% at the five hospital sites. Only one hospital required a decrease in imaging hours of operation because of the vaccine mandate.
Despite initial concerns about the impact of vaccine mandate noncompliance on departmental operations, there was ultimately little effect because of improved vaccine compliance after the mandate. Understanding individual employee and locoregional differences in vaccine compliance can help leaders proactively develop mitigation strategies to manage this new challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）疫苗接种规定正在美国各地的医疗系统中实施，由于医护人员对接种疫苗犹豫不决，这对放射科劳动力和运营产生的影响目前尚不清楚。本文讨论了 COVID-19 疫苗接种规定对大型多中心放射科的潜在影响，以及减轻这些影响的策略。
从 2021 年 8 月 17 日至 2021 年 9 月 13 日，每周从整个医疗系统中获取员工的疫苗接种合规数据，并提取放射科特定的数据。将疫苗接种合规数据映射到特定的放射科职位和五个不同的医院地点。
在最初的截止日期 2021 年 9 月 10 日，放射科员工中共有 6%未完全接种疫苗。磁共振技术员和放射科技术助理的最初不合规率最高，分别为 37%和 38%。在五个医院地点，截止日期前的疫苗不合规率在 0.5%至 7.0%之间。只有一家医院因疫苗接种规定而需要减少影像运营时间。
尽管最初对疫苗接种规定不合规对部门运营的影响表示担忧，但由于规定后疫苗接种合规率提高，最终影响很小。了解个别员工和地区差异对疫苗接种的遵守情况，可以帮助领导层在 COVID-19 大流行期间主动制定缓解策略，以应对这一新挑战。
