State expects cost savings in immunization database
The online system is being funded through a three-year grant
Parents, patients and doctors are expected to benefit from a statewide immunization registry being developed by the state Health Department.
"This is in the best interests of children," said Dr. Paul Effler, state epidemiologist, adding that it will be valuable for doctors caring for children.
Ultimately the registry is expected to reduce health care costs by better protecting residents from diseases, officials said.
The Hawaii Medical Service Association Foundation funded the Hawaii Immunization Registry with a $598,000 three-year grant.
Doctors will be able to quickly check the Web-based computer system to see which shots a child has or needs, he said. "It will do good every day in helping kids get the shots they need, and when it's fully developed the system will help us respond to emergencies," he said in an interview.
It will take time to make the system fully operational, but the Health Department plans to begin testing it in some offices this fall, Effler said. "It needs to be reliable and robust," he added.
Doctors eventually will be able to enter immunization records into the system to make sure a child's record is up to date, Effler said.
The registry will help health officials better protect residents from diseases such as measles, tetanus and whooping cough with up-to-date vaccinations, he said.
"From a public health perspective, we will be able to monitor everyone getting shots and any area of the population we need to focus more for timely immunizations."
Eventually the registry should have the ability to remind parents when to take children for overdue shots, Effler said. "It will trigger messages the clinician or DOH will provide."
Cliff Cisco, HMSA senior vice president, said he anticipates cost savings in preventing diseases, especially if children begin getting immunizations at age 2.
"Every child gets their immunizations because they have to have them by age 5, but the national standard is trying to get it done by age 2," he said. "I think that's where tracking will help, and reminder notices (through the registry)."
Adult vaccination records eventually will be included in the system, which will help in health emergencies, Effler said: "Imagine a scenario of having to vaccinate people for pandemic influenza. The same would be true for smallpox. God forbid that we should ever have to face that, but we need some way electronically to know who has been vaccinated."
If those who are already protected are identified, efforts can focus on those who have the illness, Effler said.
About 99 percent of Hawaii's kids have necessary immunizations when they enter school, compared with a national rate of about 95 percent, said Kathie Fazekas, Health Department immunization program manager. The great thing about the registry, she said, is that if a family moves, changes doctors or loses records, the data will be stored in the computer system.
She saw the benefits of a registry while working in Texas after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, she said. Displaced Gulf Coast families were able to get their children's immunization records through Mississippi's registry, Fazekas said.
"That was one of the shining things that came through for Katrina."