Innovations to Improve Parent Contact Information in Immunization Registries

描述(申请人提供)：尽管在实现2010年健康人免疫目标方面取得了进展，但全美仍有一些未接种疫苗的儿童，特别是那些生活在城市地区的儿童。父母或提供者未能认识到儿童应(或逾期)接种疫苗是一个长期存在的问题，也是疫苗接种不足的一个重要根本原因。作为回应，过去十年见证了追踪免疫记录和评估疫苗接种状况的免疫登记前所未有的增长。大多数免疫登记处还能够为需要接种疫苗的儿童生成个性化通知。可以通过邮件、电话或计算机发出通知，以鼓励预约即将到来的预定疫苗接种(提醒)或那些过期的疫苗接种(召回)。有充分的证据表明免疫提醒/召回的有效性。实现基于登记的提醒/召回系统的全部潜力的一个重要障碍是父母联系信息的准确性和完整性。如果没有准确的联系信息，邮寄的提醒/召回通知无法发送给适当的当事人，电话消息也无法到达预期的收件人。先前的报告表明，未能通过邮件或电话提醒/召回通知联系父母是司空见惯的。拟议的研究将开发和评估创新的方法，以成功地联系父母，了解他们的孩子需要的具体免疫接种。创新计划的具体目标是：(1)描述全州免疫登记处目前用来更新父母联系信息的方法；(2)评估现有登记处数据在联系父母方面的有效性和有用性；(3)确定生成和更新父母联系信息的新战略；(4)确定联系登记处中无法通过邮件或电话联系到的儿童的父母的创新战略；(5)从成功的父母联系和疫苗接种状态的变化两方面评价新战略的有效性和有用性；以及(6)评估新战略的成本效益。这项拟议的研究的独特之处在于，它侧重于全国最大和最先进的全州免疫登记机构之一的经验。我们将探索广泛的现有信息系统，作为家长联系信息的潜在新来源，以及成功更新免疫登记册数据的最有效手段。对于那些不能通过邮件或电话通知可靠联系的个人，我们将开发和测试新的联系方式，目标是“无法联系到”的人群。这项研究的结果将有助于其他州和社区改进免疫登记中父母联系信息的努力。免疫登记处是进行免疫提醒/召回的有用机制；然而，父母联系信息不准确限制了登记处为此目的的有效性。该项目将制定和评估不同的战略，以改进国家免疫登记系统中包含的父母联系信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Although progress has been made toward achieving the Healthy People 2010 immunization objectives, pockets of undervaccinated children remain throughout the United States, especially those living in urban areas. The failure of parents or providers to recognize that a child is due (or overdue) for vaccinations is a persistent problem and an important underlying cause of inadequate vaccination. In response, the past decade has witnessed unprecedented growth of immunization registries which track immunization records and assess vaccination status. Most immunization registries are also capable of generating individualized notices for children that require vaccinations. Notification may be made by mail, telephone or computer to either encourage appointments for upcoming scheduled vaccinations (reminders) or those doses that are overdue (recalls). There is ample evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of immunization reminder/recall. An important barrier to achieving the full potential of registry-based reminder / recall systems is the accuracy and completeness of parents' contact information. Without accurate contact information, mailed reminder/ recall notices cannot be delivered to the appropriate parties and telephone messages cannot reach the intended recipients. Prior reports indicate that failures to contact parents with mail or telephone reminder/recall notices are commonplace. The proposed study will develop and evaluate innovative approaches to successfully contact parents regarding the specific immunizations their child needs. The specific aims of the Innovations to Improve Successful Contact of Parents for Immunization Reminders program are to: (1) describe the methods currently used by a statewide immunization registry to update parent contact information; (2) evaluate the effectiveness and usefulness of existing registry data in contacting parents; (3) identify new strategies for generating and updating parent contact information; (4) identify innovative strategies to contact parents of children in the registry who cannot be contacted by mail or telephone; (5) evaluate the effectiveness and usefulness of new strategies in terms of both successful parent contact and changes in vaccination status; and (6) evaluate the cost-effectiveness of new strategies. The proposed study is unique in that it focuses on the experiences of one of the nation's largest and most advanced statewide immunization registries. We will explore a broad array of existing information systems as potential new sources of parent contact information as well as the most effective means to successfully update immunization registry data. For those individuals that cannot be reliably contacted through mail or telephone notices, we will develop and test new contact methods targeted to "unreachable" populations. Results of the study will serve to inform efforts in other states and communities to improve parent contact information in immunization registries. Immunization registries are useful mechanisms to conduct immunization reminder/recall; however, inaccurate parent contact information limits the effectiveness of registries for this purpose. This project will develop and evaluate different strategies to improve the parent contact information included in a state immunization registry.