BACKGROUND:
Influenza is one of the most common vaccine preventable diseases in the US. There are between 20,000 and 40,000 influenza related deaths per influenza epidemic. Influenza related disease hospitalizations of healthy children have been estimated to be between 100 and 500 per 100,000 patients. Several studies have shown low vaccination rates in high risk populations.

OBJECTIVE:
Population based immunization registries can play a vital role in increasing the influenza vaccination rate for high risk populations.

METHOD:
Southern California Kaiser Permanente's Immunization Tracking System (KITS) covers over three million current and previous members. Implemented in 1995, KITS now contains over 23 million immunizations, including non-Kaiser administered immunizations from previous providers and schools. ICD9 codes and prescription information was used to identify patients with asthma, heart disease, rheumatologic disease, and other high-risk conditions. For the 2003-2004 flu season, a provider prompt/reminder was used to alert the provider of the high-risk patient. This prompt was available in real time for every patient at every visit. The patient population was divided into cohorts by age and risk factors. 2003 flu season data will be compared to a similar cohort from the 2002 flu season.

RESULT:
Final data will be available at the time of the conference. It is anticipated that the vaccination rate will significantly increase for all study cohorts.

CONCLUSION:
Influenza is a very common vaccine preventable disease. Identifying population groups at the time of visits and giving appropriate vaccinations can significantly decrease morbidity and mortality from influenza. Physician reminders driven by a real-time vaccine registry is essential in identifying population groups at risk.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
How to increase the vaccination rate for influenza in a high risk population using a vaccine registry.