KEYWORDS:
Reminder/Recall, Primary Care, Provider KAB

BACKGROUND:
The use of reminders that immunizations for children are due and/or recall notices to parents of children that immunizations were missed has been demonstrated as an effective strategy to improve and maintain immunization coverage. Experts recommend sending reminders and recalls as an essential tool for use in the provider’s office. Computerized immunization registries can provide efficient data support to enable providers to use this technique with greater efficiency and less effort than did older paper-driven immunization record systems. The extent to which providers are aware of this capability, support it, and use it is of interest to those who provide preventive primary care services to children as well as to those who design health care programs.

OBJECTIVE(S):
To describe provider attitudes and practices that may inform the development of reminder/recall functions in immunization registries.

METHOD(S):
Over 1000 primary care providers in four immunization registry areas with different reminder/recall methods were surveyed by mail. Information obtained included their knowledge and use of the registry-supported parental notice function, their beliefs about such a function, their suggestions for changes in the function, and their use of other reminder systems.

RESULT(S):
Results will be available in April 2002.

CONCLUSIONS(S):
Results will be available in April 2002.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Participants will understand a) provider awareness of registry reminder/recall functions, b) level of use of those functions, c) attitudes about the use of immunization notices to parents and their importance as a registry function, and d) the use of other reminder systems, all as they vary by different registry designs and functions.