BACKGROUND:
In 1999, The New Jersey Vaccine for Children program began providing free vaccines to over 1900 physicians for eligible children 0-18 years old who enrolled in Medicaid, KidCare Plans or had no health insurance. In April 2004, The New Jersey Immunization Information System (NJIIS), developed in 1997, was upgraded to interface with NJVFC. Upon the completion of the interface the Central New Jersey Maternal and Child Health Consortium (CNJMCHC), one of six maternal and child health consortiums that market NJIIS in the state, changed their marketing strategy for recruitment to focus on the technical advantages of the NJIIS/NJVFC interface.

OBJECTIVE:
To increase NJVFC provider participation in NJIIS
To increase NJIIS/NJVFC data quality and vaccine accountability

METHOD:
The CNJMCHC compared and surveyed existing VFC providers who utilized the NJIIS interface to electronically submit data against providers who used paper submission.
In office demonstrations of the “live” NJIIS training site were conducted to illustrate the ease and advantages of electronic submission for VFC providers that were providers of NJIIS and those who were not.

RESULT:
Increased VFC provider participation in NJIIS based on interface capabilities
Increased data quality and vaccine accountability,

CONCLUSION:
The interface between NJIIS and NJVFC is a valuable marketing tool for recruiting and increasing VFC provider participation. The electronic submission of vaccine doses, vaccine inventory and VFC accountability forms gives both provider and NJVFC better access to data and lays the groundwork for transferring VFC processing from vendor to NJVFC, therefore substantially cutting cost.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Participants will learn about alternative marketing tools to increasing participation in the VFC program.
Participants will learn of methods to increase participation in their immunization information system
Participants will learn how to improve data quality as a provider, Immunization Information System or a VFC program.