With More Time Devoted to Follow-up, Immunization Rates Dramatically Increase

Health Department’s rates now exceed state, national levels

In 2010, the Northern Kentucky Health Department decided to make childhood immunizations a priority and devote staff and time resources to immunization follow-up. The move proved successful a year later, with the 2011 immunization rates for children seen at the Health Department’s four county health centers at or above 90 percent—the benchmark set by the state and federal government.

The rates were documented during the Health Department’s annual 2-year-old immunization audit, conducted by the Kentucky Immunization Program. For 2011, the Kenton County Health Center in Covington achieved an immunization rate of 97 percent, followed by the Grant County Health Center in Williamstown with a rate of 94 percent, the Campbell County Health Center in Newport with 91 percent and the Boone County Health Center in Florence with 90 percent. In comparison, Kentucky’s statewide immunization rate is 64.2 percent and the national average is 70.2 percent; and the previous year’s rates for the Northern Kentucky health centers ranged from 82 percent in Boone County percent to 94 percent in Kenton County.

“Even with heavy client loads and tight resources, our staff was able to dramatically impact the health of young children in our region, just by taking time to follow-up,” said Jennifer Hunter, RN, MSN, Director of Clinical Services. “I’m proud of their accomplishments, and have challenged them to continue to improve upon our rates, with the goal of every child being fully immunized.”

In May 2010, the Health Department instituted new follow-up guidelines for childhood immunization. At each health center, a staff person was assigned to do monthly follow-up with those families whose children had missed an immunization appointment. Staff determined if the child was being immunized elsewhere, and if so, that was noted in the patient’s chart. If the child still needed the immunizations, the staff worked to schedule an appointment. Reminders were conducted by both phone call and postcard, with three attempts made to reach the family over a three-month period. If a child came to the health center for another service and the staff realized that he/she was missing an immunization, every effort was made to give the immunization during that visit.

“Vaccines are among our most successful and cost effective public health tools,” said Lynne M. Saddler, MD, MPH, District Director of Health. “With these high immunization rates, we are not only protecting vaccinated individuals from developing potentially serious diseases, but also protecting entire communities by preventing and reducing the spread of infectious agents.”

The vaccine coverage rates track seven childhood immunizations, with a total of 19 doses, that are recommended for children by age 18 months. The audit checks for compliance at 24 months, giving families a six-month cushion should the child need to be caught up . It includes:

· Four doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis

· Three doses of polio

· One dose of measles, mumps and rubella

· Three doses of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)

· Three doses of Hepatitis B

· One dose of Varicella (chickenpox)

· Four doses of pneumococcal

The Health Department provides more than 12,000 childhood vaccinations annually. It offers vaccinations for 15 childhood diseases at its four county health centers on a daily basis. Through the federal Vaccines for Children program, many vaccines are available to children age 18 and under who would not otherwise be vaccinated because of inability to pay.

“A recently signed agreement between the Health Department and HealthPoint Family Care will remove barriers to vaccines for children who are underinsured,” said Saddler. “Often, families have insurance that either doesn’t cover vaccines, only covers certain vaccines or it caps vaccine coverage at a certain amount. HealthPoint has delegated its Vaccines for Children authority to the Health Department, meaning that children who fall in these categories can get vaccinated by either agency.”

For more information about the awards or childhood immunizations, please call 859.341.4264 or visit http://www.nkyhealth.org.

###