Want Help Keeping Teens' Vaccinations on Track? Try New METRIC Module

The AAFP's Measuring, Evaluating and Translating Research Into Care (METRIC) performance improvement program has added an adolescent immunization module to help members keep their adolescent patients' vaccinations up-to-date.

The module, which has been approved by the American Board of Family Medicine as an alternative program to fulfill Maintenance of Certification for Family Physicians (MC-FP) Part IV (performance-in-practice) requirements, uses family physicians' own practice data to help them develop an action plan to keep adolescent patients on schedule with their immunizations. The module also offers tips, templates and resources based on the interventions chosen and allows FPs to track and evaluate their performance.

In addition to completing MC-FP Part IV, family physicians are eligible to earn as many as 20 Prescribed CME credits by completing this activity and may take between 30 days and one year to finish the module.

METRIC launched in 2005 and offers FPs online learning modules on various clinical topics, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary artery disease, depression, diabetes and hypertension.

By combining evidence-based medicine with education, METRIC modules give physicians an opportunity to evaluate how they manage chronic diseases and make systematic changes to improve patient outcomes.