Practice Incentives Program Quality Improvement Measures: annual data update 2023–24

Influenza is a common disease of the respiratory tract. It affects people of all ages. In 2023, Influenza accounted for 19% of the total notifiable disease cases and has been the most common cause of notifiable disease hospitalisations in most years over the past decade, though highly variable from year to year. Influenza, which was the most common cause of notifiable disease deaths between 2014 and 2019, was recorded as the underlying cause of 305 deaths in 2022 (AIHW 2024e).

There are a number of groups who are at a higher risk of influenza and its complications. These groups experience higher illness and death associated with influenza than the rest of the population and patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the vulnerable population groups. Therefore, annual influenza vaccination is strongly recommended for patients with COPD (ATAGI 2024).

People with COPD are considered to be at high risk of complications from influenza. Data from several studies also provide evidence that influenza vaccination has a clinically important protective effect on influenza-related COPD exacerbations, and probably an effect on the total number of exacerbations in COPD patients (AIHW 2024f). The administration of the influenza vaccine to people at risk of complications is the single most important measure in preventing or attenuating influenza infection and preventing mortality. While best practice guidelines recommend annual immunisation, a 15-month interval allows for cases when a client decides to receive a vaccine earlier than recommended (for example, from a pharmacy), or delay and wait for the release of an ‘enhanced’ vaccine (Department of Health 2020a).

Capture of results recorded outside of the general practice setting

Some patients with COPD may receive care from other practitioners in addition to a GP, including a specialist physician, and/or other health care providers to safely manage their COPD (Yang et al. 2019). Results arising from clinical intervention conducted outside of the service that are known and recorded by the practice are included in the measure. Where immunisation was provided elsewhere but is not known to the practice, this is not captured in the report. For example, this might be where the vaccination providers’ information systems may not be compatible with the clinical information system (CIS) of the client’s usual general practice.

Other sources of relevant data

Data on prevalence of long-term health conditions like COPD are captured in the National Health Survey (NHS) conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). There are other administrative data collections where data on influenza immunisation are captured, for example, the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).