KEYWORDS:
Quality Assurance, Provider Recruitment
BACKGROUND:
VaxTrack, a regional immunization registry in California’s Riverside and San Bernardino Counties covers 27,000 square miles with over 3.3 million people. VaxTrack now contains 380,000 children’s immunization records.
OBJECTIVE:
VaxTrack strives to encourage all local public and private immunization providers to utilize VaxTrack in their immunization practice. Staff enrolls providers through Quality Assurance reviews designed to recruit and retain providers using registry data. QA proved a successful method to introduce and encourage VaxTrack in provider offices.
METHOD:
Public health staff conduct Immunization Quality Assurance Reviews for private providers serving VFC and Medicaid eligible children. Reviews emphasize Immunization Practice Standard #12 to market VaxTrack. Education in reviews includes details on VaxTrack installation, benefits and utilization. Data downloaded directly from VaxTrack into CASA produces timely up-to-date rates for providers. Data analysis and effective reminder/recall sell the registry.
RESULT:
Reviews of 42 private providers [July 1997- July 2002] showed 60% with immunization up-to-date rates under 50%. Initial visits included education about registry installation and use to improve rates. Providers utilizing registry routinely showed increases in up-to-date rates with an average increase of 29%. CASA data encourages VaxTrack participation and provider practice improvement.
Through June 2002 111 providers use VaxTrack with 38% recruited directly through QA activities.
CONCLUSION:
QA opens doors to provider offices and encourages registry participation as it introduces registry as an immunization tool. Recruitment includes reviews of new providers and aggressive follow up with providers with sub-optimal rates but who lack technology or staff to use VaxTrack.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Describe process of QA to recruit providers to registry
Describe steps to incorporating registry recruitment into immunization QA
Describe how registry data can be part of immunization QA
Back to Provider Recruitment Planning
Back to The 2003 Immunization Registry Conference (October 27-29, 2003)