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Practice Fusion · Dec 7, 2015

Practice Fusion Highlights Flu Outbreaks and Vaccination Trends Across the U.S. and California

This week marks the start of National Influenza Vaccination Week, and the CDC estimates manufacturers will distribute more flu vaccines in the U.S. in 2015 than ever before – a projected 171 million to 179 million doses this year. Each year, millions of people get flu, more than 200,000 Americans are hospitalized with complications, and the virus kills thousands of people.

As the most-connected, cloud-based EHR platform in the country, we provide a robust de-identified data set that gives healthcare professionals and patients insights behind health trends in their region. With flu season in full swing, Practice Fusion is taking a deeper look into flu outbreaks across the country. Based on Practice Fusion patient doctor visits, our researchers narrowed down by U.S. county which regions are recording more flu diagnoses and near real-time outbreaks.

Top 10 U.S. Counties Being Hit with the Flu

  1. Ocean County, New Jersey → Leading city: Lakewood, NJ
  2. Kings County, New York → Leading city: Brooklyn, NY
  3. Miami-Dade County, Florida → Leading city: Hialeah, FL
  4. Shasta County, California → Leading city: Redding, CA
  5. Orange County, California → Leading city: Westminster, CA
  6. Hidalgo County, Texas → Leading city: Mission, TX
  7. Queens County, New York → Leading city: Queens, NY
  8. Wayne County, Michigan → Leading city: Detroit, MI
  9. Middlesex County, New Jersey → Leading city: Perth Amboy, NJ
  10. Cook County, Illinois → Leading city: Chicago, IL

“In the United States, flu outbreaks can happen as early as October and can linger as late as May,” shares Richard Loomis, Practice Fusion’s Chief Medical Officer. “Our data shows a direct correlation between outbreaks and vaccinations. Compared to the start of last year’s flu season, we’re seeing an uptick in number of outbreaks, particularly in California. But we’re also seeing many of the same counties with high outbreaks getting vaccinated, suggesting doctors are more likely to recommend a flu vaccination when diagnoses in the region spike.”

Top 10 California Flu Cities Top 10 California Vaccinated Cities
1.) Santa Ana, CA 1.) Oakland, CA
2.) Anaheim, CA 2.) Industry, CA
3.) Industry, CA 3.) Santa Ana, CA
4.) Inglewood, CA 4.) Bakersfield, CA
5.) Palm Springs, CA 5.) Anaheim, CA
6.) Los Angeles, CA 6.) Redding, CA
7.) Redding, CA 7.) Los Angeles, CA
8.) Santa Barbara, CA 8.) San Jose, CA
9.) Bakersfield, CA 9.) San Francisco, CA
10.) Van Nuys, CA 10.) Fresno, CA

Based on number of flu diagnoses and vaccinations recorded within Practice Fusion during the start of the 2015 flu season

To prevent the spread of influenza, the CDC recommends an annual vaccine for everyone 6 months of age and older as the first and most important step in protecting against this serious disease. It also recommended individuals take everyday preventative actions like staying away from sick people and washing one’s hands to reduce the spread of germs.

Cloud based EHR systems can empower the healthcare industry by modeling disease spread and real time identification of emergencies, as well as identify impactful health trends ahead of traditional methods. Practice Fusion is used by a community of more than 112,000 monthly active healthcare professionals with over 100 million patient records under management.

About Practice Fusion’s Research Division

Practice Fusion’s Research Division provides information from one of the largest, longitudinal clinical databases in the U.S. for the purposes of clinical research and public health analysis. With a focus on real-time insight into adverse drug reactions, disease outbreaks and other national health issues, Practice Fusion’s Research Division powers studies that are providing new insight into healthcare and how it is delivered. All research information utilized is fully de-identified and compliant with HIPAA cfr 164.514. For more information, please visit www.practicefusion.com/research.