Reminder Postcards Vs. Reminder Recall/Broadcast Telephone Technology as A Cost Saving Alternative

Background:  The Immunization Registry program mailed out reminder/recall postcards at no cost as an incentive for enrolled the providers.  Providers viewed this as a valuable public service that saved them time and money.  More than 125,000 postcards were mailed annually costing in excess of $30,000.  As operating costs decreased, it became necessary to either greatly restrict the number of reminder postcards mailed out or to find an alternative to traditional “snail mail.”

Setting:  Riverside County, CA

Population:  Children served by CAIR Inland Empire.

Project Description:   More than 25% of reminder postcards mailed on behalf of 535 participating providers were returned due to incorrect or incomplete addresses.    Now that the fiscal climate required reduced postage costs, the immediate step was to limit mailing postcards to only those children seen by the public health clinics. Staff researched other options so that the registry could once again provide a valuable service to participating physicians. The options of the recall/broadcast telephone system called WellConnect proved to be a cost savings compared to reminder postcards. WellConnect costs 8 cents for a 60-second bilingual call.  It also saves countless man hours compared to printing and preparing postcards for mailing.

Results/Lessons Learned:  The use of telephone broadcast technology enables the registry to send reminder/recall notifications at one-third the cost of traditional postage.  Whereas 125,000 postcards cost $35,000 in postage alone to mail, 125,000 60-second calls can be made for only $10,000.  Unlike postcards that cannot be delivered, there is no cost for calls that are not completed. In addition to providing reminder/recall, the service is valuable for sending additional targeted reminders, such as the need for Pertussis to protect unvaccinated infants and flu clinic announcements.  Dollar for dollar, telephone broadcast technology reaches up to 350% more patients than traditional methods of reminder/recall.