Tuesday, October 28, 2003 - 4:00 PM
3808

This presentation is part of D1: Innovative Immunization Registry Funding Strategies

A policy proposal to fund expansion of immunization registries

Kathryn Atchison, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, 10833 Le Conte Avenue, Center for the Health Sciences, Room 53-042, Los Angeles, CA, USA, Cynthia Grubbs, Division of Practitioner Data Banks, Health Resources and Services Administration, 7519 Standish Place, Rockville, MD, USA, Anne Hume, Department of Pharmacy Practice, University of Rhode Island, Fogarty Hall, Kingston, RI, USA, Robert McNellis, Clinical Affairs and Education, American Academy of Physician Assistants, 950 North Washington St, Alexandria, VA, USA, Christopher Rizzo, Department of Pediatrics, The MetroHealth System, 2500 MetroHealth Dr. H455, Cleveland, OH, USA, and Izzat Sbeih, American Public Health Association, 800 I Street, NW, Washington, DC, USA.


KEYWORDS:
Health care policy, federal budget, bioterrorism, financing

BACKGROUND:
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sponsors a Primary Health Care Policy Fellowship. One of the 2003 Project Teams developed and wrote a policy paper on methods to finance the expansion of childhood immunization registries to include adults and bioterrorism (BT) vaccines. Recommendations were presented to HHS leadership in June 2003.

OBJECTIVE:
Expansion of childhood immunization registries to include adults and BT vaccines to prepare America to move quickly in the event of a BT event or outbreak of vaccine-preventable disease.

METHOD:
The Project Team conducted many interviews with key persons in government and the private sector, reviewed Legislative priorities and the President's budget.

RESULT:
1) BT grants to states should require states to show improvement in their immunization registry systems.
2) Medicare and Medicaid should support registry development and provide incentives to physicians for participating in them.
3) HHS should support the use of Vaccines for Children (VFC) funds to support registry development making the VFC program even more efficient.

CONCLUSION:
Immunization registries are an essential part of the nation's preparedness. They should be expanded to include adults and BT vaccines.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

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