BACKGROUND:
The Project Vaccinate -Immunization Resources & Education Partnership (PV-IREP) is an innovative immunization reminder and parental education program utilizing speech recognition technology and New Jersey's Immunization Information System (NJIIS). Newark was selected as the pilot site because data from the National Immunization Survey (CDC) indicates that Newark's vaccination coverage level for the 4:3:1:3:3:1 series is only 54.7% compared to the state average, 69.7%.

OBJECTIVE:
Enhance existing immunization programs, increase immunization adherence, and facilitate efforts to increase age-appropriate immunization rates in Newark to Healthy People 2010 immunization objectives.

METHOD:
PV-IREP leverages technology to deliver portable, replicable, and cost-effective strategies. On a biweekly basis, data is extracted from the NJIIS and then coded for transfer using a HIPPA compliant secure FTP protocol. Education and reminder messages are delivered via outbound calls to the parents of children, 1 through 15 months of age in the greater Newark area. Members interact with the speech technology using only their voice, responding to pre-recorded prompts to approximate one-on-one conversation.

RESULT:
PV-IREP was launched in August of 2003 and by December of that same year, we had delivered education and reminder messages to 1,917 households and 1,949 children. As of July 2004, we have delivered messages to more than 8,000 households,reaching more than 8,100 children

CONCLUSION:
Unlike traditional reminder/recall programs, which are labor intensive and often costly in terms of resource utilization, this program is portable, requires minimal resources, and can be easily replicated in service areas of varying size. Additionally, this program is a great tool to promote New Jersey's Immunization Information Registry.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Strategies for:
* Leveraging technology to perform outreach.
* Delivering recurring age-appropriate messages to a diverse population.
* Incorporating parental education about community resources into reminder programs.