Data Exchange Between Public Health Records and Pediatricians’ EHRs Improves Vaccine Rates

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Melissa Stockwell, MD, MPH, FAAP Florence Irving Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Population and Family Health Columbia University - College of Physicians & Surgeons and Mailman School of Public Health Medical Director, New York-Presbyterian Hospital Immunization Registry (EzVac) Co-Director, Primary Care Clinician Research Fellowship in Community Health New York, NY 10032

Dr. Melissa Stockwell

Melissa Stockwell, MD, MPH, FAAP
Florence Irving Associate Professor of Pediatrics and
Population and Family Health
Columbia University – College of Physicians & Surgeons and
Mailman School of Public Health
Medical Director, New York-Presbyterian Hospital Immunization Registry (EzVac)
Co-Director, Primary Care Clinician Research Fellowship in Community Health
New York, NY 10032 

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Dr. Stockwell: Fragmentation of immunization records place children at risk for underimmunization and overimmunization. Nearly all 50 states, 5 cities, and the District of Columbia operate an immunization information system, which is a system that collects and centralizes immunization data for children and adolescents from immunization providers at a regional or state level. More than 75% of US office-based physicians have adopted an electronic health record (EHR), but until recently, clinicians wanting to access patient immunization information in an IIS generally had to manually look up the patient data on a state or local IIS website, that data was not available to them within their own EHR. In this study, we demonstrated that exchange of immunization information between an immunization information system (IIS) and an EHR at point of care had a significant impact on up-to-date rates, overimmunization, and immunization record completeness for low-income, urban children and adolescents.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Dr. Stockwell: Readers should take away that data exchange between immunization information systems and electronic health records can improve child and adolescent immunization status.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Stockwell: Future plans should focus on developing both the technology as well as on local, state, and federal policies to support such exchanges.

MedicalResearch.com: Thank you for your contribution to the MedicalResearch.com community.

Citation:

Immunization Data Exchange With Electronic Health Records

Melissa S. Stockwell

Karthik Natarajan, Rajasekhar Ramakrishnan, Stephen Holleran, Kristen Forney, Angel Aponte, David K. Vawdrey

Pediatrics May 2016, DOI: 10.1542/peds.2015-4335

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Last Updated on May 6, 2016 by Marie Benz MD FAAD