.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Iowa hospital workers are nearly twice as likely to have had influenza vaccinations than their counterparts across the country, according to the latest data reported by the nonprofit Iowa Healthcare Collaborative.

Statewide, 68 percent of hospital employees get flu shots, compared with a national average estimated at between 35 and 42 percent. The measure was one of a number of quality criteria detailed in the collaborative’s third annual “Iowa Report,” which provides detailed information on how each Iowa hospital performed in areas ranging from surgical care to steps taken to prevent infections.

Overall, Iowa hospitals are performing at “very high levels” compared with hospitals in the rest of the country, said Dr. Tom Evans, the collaborative’s president and CEO. Iowa hospitals exceed national performance levels on 63 percent of the indicators followed by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Iowa hospitals’ high flu vaccination rate “ensures that our work force is healthy and available to support our communities, as well as maintaining an environment as free as possible from infection for our patients,” Evans said. The collaborative’s goal is for 95 percent of health-care workers in the state to receive flu shots annually by 2010.

The report also identified some areas for improvement in Iowa, including better attention by hospitals in providing patients treated for heart failure with discharge instructions and providing patients with smoking-cessation advice.

The 2007 Iowa Report is available online at www.ihconline.org.