Immunization Tracking System Sites

This summary of immunization tracking systems is obviously limited. The material is based on information from Every Child By Two. Last update: September 19, 1993. Please send updates to lwallace@kitten.cis.unf.edu

• Arkansas Immunization Reporting System (AIRS) Department of Health. State-wide. 98 local sites have work stations tied to hardware at state health department. Tracking is by age. WIC cooperative. No private provider access. 14 network server sites (108 health units) using 56KB lines to the server sites and 9600 bps to the health units. Database is distributed across 14 sites.
• Partners in Preventive Health Care University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Denver area. Tracking by name and Denver Child Health Passport number. Public and private providers have access through monthly reports. Follow-up is by telephone and postcard reminders. Children born at St. Thomas More Hospital are included in the system with voluntary cooperation from area physicians.
• (no title given) University of Illinois School of Public Health. State-wide. Tracking by computer generated ID number. No private provider access. Follow-up is by public health nurses.
• Marion County Health Department Immunization Registry Marion County (Indiana) Health Department. County-wide. Tracking is by name and birth date. Children immunized at public health clinics are included in the system. Private providers may request information from the public health office. Follow-up is by outreach workers. Note made that the system is mainframe-based.
• Immunization Control and Evaluation System (ICE) North Dakota State Department of Health. State-wide. Tracking is by birth date, name, and unique ID number. Private providers may access reports and submit data but do not have direct access to the computer system. Interagency links are under development. Follow-up is by public and/or private providers. Installed in 1987. Note made that the system is Unix/Xenix based.
• Summit County Tracking Program Children's Hospital and Medical Center of Akron, Ohio. County-wide. Tracking is by mother's or child's last name and an assigned unit number or birth date. Children enter the system through the Children's Hospital or one of the 3 public health departments. Follow-up by reminder cards is being researched. Private providers may have access in the future.
• Voice Mailbox System and Computerized Central Medical Record using Fax input and output Cleveland (Ohio) Department of Public Health and Cleveland State University. City-wide. Tracking is by unique ID number and up to 7 other identifiers. Children enter the system at birth. Providers have access to the system by phone using the child's ID number and provider PIN. Follow-up is by voice phone mailbox. Data input and output can be by fax. Supported by RWJ.
• Patient Tracking System (PTMIS) Memphis-Shelby County (Tennessee) Health Department. County-wide. Patient Tracking System. Tracking is by birth date and type of immunization. Private providers have access to system. Follow-up is by post cards and telephone calls. Inter-agency links to WIC.
• Baby Saver Lynchburg (Virginia) Kiwanis. City-wide. Tracks "every birth and schedules all immunizations." Follow-up is by mail and phone. System under development. No information on private provider access, Data entry, inter-agency links, or tracking methods.
• Computer Based Immunization Tracking System Virginia Department of Health. State-wide. Tracking is by multiple keys. MS-DOS, dBase IV system. Under development.
• Robert Wood Johnson:
  • Fresno, CA - Fresno County Department of Health
  • Oakland, CA - Alameda County Health Care Services Agency
  • San Bernardino, CA - San Bernardino County Department of Public Health
  • Santa Ana, CA - Orange County Health Department
  • Denver, CO - Colorado Department of Public Health
  • Savannah, GA - Chatham County Health Department
  • Minneapolis, MN - Minnesota Department of Health
  • Jackson, MS - Mississippi State Department of Health
  • Raleigh, NC - State of North Carolina Department of Environment
  • Carson City, NV - Nevada Division of Health
  • New York, NY - New York City Health Department
  • Cincinnati, OH - Cincinnati Board of Health
  • Cleveland, OH - Cleveland Department of Public Health
  • Philadelphia, PA - Philadelphia Department of Public Health
  • Pittsburgh, PA - Allegheny County Health Department
  • Providence, RI - Rhode Island Department of Health
  • Nashville, TN - Metropolitan Health Department of Nashville
  • Dallas, TX - Dallas County Health Department
  • Houston, TX - Texas Children's Hospital
  • Lubbock, TX - Lubbock Health Department
  • Richmond, VA - Richmond City Health Department
  • Everett, WA - Snohomish Health District
  • Milwaukee, WI - Milwaukee Health Department

Studies on technology effectiveness

Georgia Autodialer Study

Georgia Health Department. State-wide. Tested effectiveness of using automatic telephone follow-ups. Used control groups and intervention groups.

   Immunizations       Control         Intervention
   Due                   36%                47%
   Overdue (30 days)     15%                31%

• 94% home ownership of phones (DeKalb County),
• 95% of target families received at least one call,
• 98% of calls were received by adults,
• 98% of respondents felt that calls were helpful.