KEYWORDS:
Legislation, consent, liability, confidentiality
BACKGROUND:
On July 1, 2003, revised legislation in Indiana rescinded a previous requirement for specific written consent to submit data to the state immunization registry. This requirement was an additional burden for health care providers, and hindered data collection efforts. With the support and leadership of the Indiana State Medical Association, changes to the law were made. The new law now requires parental notification, allows parents to "opt out", grants liability relief for reporting data in good faith, and has other provisions of interest to health care providers.
OBJECTIVE:
1.) To describe the impact of specific, written consent requirements;
2.) To define alternative methods to protect parental choice yet make data collection easier;
3.) To describe the methods used for engaging the private medical community to lobby and successfully pass immunization registry legislation.
METHOD:
Document review and analysis, group and personal presentations, research and drafting of alternatives, prepartation and delivery of public testimony.
RESULT:
The removal of the consent requirement has resulted in major managed care plans in the state negotiating and signing data sharing agreements. Since there is no mandatory reporting requirement, the removal of consent places one less barrier to private provider reporting. Significant increases in data reporting and new site enrollment have been achieved with the added publicity that the process has created.
CONCLUSION:
Engaging professional medical associations is the only way to successfully pass immunization registry legislation. Benefits to this community must be explicit and real. Establishing proactive, productive communication is necessary to achieve this goal.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1.) State 3 values to private medical providers for registries.
2.) Describe the process for engaging a state medical association to consider leading the effort for legislative changes.
Web Page: www.in.gov/legislative/bills/2003/SE/SE0457.1.html
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Back to The 2003 Immunization Registry Conference (October 27-29, 2003)