KEYWORDS:
immunizations, reminder system, prevention, primary care, personal digital assistant, practice-based research
BACKGROUND:
Primary care physicians do an inadequate job of providing primary and secondary preventive services. Preliminary work in our practice-based research network suggests that nurse-operated systems with physician oversight can work well. The creation of a central registry could further enhance such systems and increase participation by private physicians in preventive services registries.
OBJECTIVE(S):
To develop and test a nurse-operated palm computer-based preventive services reminder system linked to a central registry.
METHOD(S):
Software was written in PenDragon Internet Forms, Java, and SQL that provides individualized preventive service reminders on nurse-operated palm-sized computers during nightly synchronization. The reminders are based upon age, previous preventive services received, risk factors, and contraindications. A record of all services is transferred electronically to a central database. We are working with the Oklahoma State Department of Health to share and eventually combine data with their immunization registry.
RESULT(S):
All aspects of the system are functioning. We do not yet have reliable data on its effectiveness for increasing preventive service delivery rates, though preliminary data looks promising. Additional data will be available by the time of the presentation.
CONCLUSIONS(S):
We have developed a system that could increase delivery of primary and secondary preventive services by primary care physicians and efficiently create a central registry of preventive services.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Participants will learn about the system that we have developed including its rationale, process, and effectiveness.
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Back to Grow: Technical Challenges and Innovations — Part II
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Back to The 2002 Immunization Registry Conference of CDC