Tuesday, October 19, 2004 - 1:55 PM
2

Cost-Benefit Analyses Help Sell Providers on Costs Associated with Historical Data Entry Assistance

BACKGROUND:
Unless immunization records are transferred into the registry electronically when a provider first joins, they are entered as children present for appointments. This approach delays the cost savings providers realize through a reduction in manual record pulls and duplicate immunizations. The costs associated with staff time needed to complete historical data entry (HDE) are often not considered. Riverside County VaxTrack Immunization Registry began offering HDE assistance to accelerate database population. Because providers pay postage to mail disclosures to their patients, cost-benefit analyses were performed. These analyses demonstrate that HDE assistance saves providers time and money.

OBJECTIVE:
To illustrate how providing historical data entry support is a cost-effective means of helping registry providers realize the benefits of registry participation while accelerating database population.

METHOD:
Registry staff perform simple cost-benefit analyses during provider enrollment. The number of patient records to be entered is used to calculate postage costs and costs to VaxTrack for providing HDE. Additional analyses showing cost savings for staff time are performed for providers who are reluctant to pay postage costs or who need to purchase additional computers or make ergonomic improvements.

RESULT:
Registry staff enter vaccine history for a provider office in about one-sixth of the time and at one-fifth of the personnel cost. For every dollar providers spend on postage, VaxTrack’s costs to provide HDE are $2.62. The savings in personnel costs alone to the provider ranged from $6.49 to $32.43 for every dollar spent on postage to mail registry disclosure forms, with a median savings of approximately $12.

CONCLUSION:
Historical data entry assistance is a cost-effective method to accelerate registry database population and provider realization of registry benefits.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Participants will be able to describe how simple cost-benefit analyses are used to sell registry services.

  Recorded presentation

See more of RAP! Recruitment Approaches for Providers
See more of The 2004 Immunization Registry Conference