KEYWORDS:
Medicaid
Managed Care
HEDIS
Immunization Assessment
Collaboration
CASA

BACKGROUND:
In Oregon, 33% of children born are eligible to receive health benefits through Oregon Medicaid (OMAP). Oregon's registry (ALERT) partnered with OMAP to improve immunization rates for this population.

OBJECTIVE(S):
To collaborate with Medicaid to identify opportunities to improve immunization rates for children covered by Medicaid managed care plans.

METHOD(S):
Use ALERT data with CASA to calculate rates and analyze factors that may contribute to lower rates for children covered by Medicaid.

RESULT(S):
1)Immunization rates for children covered by Oregon Medicaid improved by 4 percentage points the first year of the national GPRA project; 2)Registry data improves Medicaid MCO HEDIS rates compared to using claims data only; 3) Validated that 90% of Medicaid-eligible children are in ALERT with most of their immunizations; 4)Identified that children covered by Oregon Medicaid started their immunizations, on average, much later than the overall population.

CONCLUSIONS(S):
Collaboration between Medicaid, Managed Care Organizations, and ALERT resulted in improved immunization rates and significant policy recommendations to ensure that children start their shots on time. ALERT also provided data to help improve HEDIS rates, an important performance measure for MCOs.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
To understand how registries can be the cornerstone to identify, track, and improve immunization rates for children covered by Medicaid and/or Managed Care Organizations.