Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Term Paper Example

Vaccines for Children Computer Input Manual Current State Immunization is a cost-effective and beneficial disease prevention measure. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2004) immunization has succeeded in eradicating diseases such as smallpox, measles, poliomyelitis, and rubella worldwide. A computerized system for maintaining records of immunization is needed. The system should track the immunization dates, printed school and parent reports. It is essential in guiding and timing the appropriate time for administration of vaccines. Health care providers for the past two years have scattered the medical record papers. Parents, therefore, find themselves looking for their immunization records. Desired State We have adopted Vermont Immunization Registry (IMR) at the Family Medical Center, which is a powerful tool to ensure proper treatment and timely immunization. This has helped in saving many by ensuring that the right vaccine is administered to the children (Maciosek et al., 2006). The efficiency of the offices is also improved since the required time to gather review records of immunization is reduced. When there is a disease outbreak, it is very easy for public health departments to identify those individual at risk by the use of registry. Gap Analysis Although the applied registry is efficient, it is not fully implemented in our Family Medical Centre in Paris. Proposed Problem Statement Learning how to operate our registry is very important. This is because its computerized application, which is to some extent complicated, needs qualified personnel to be able to fill in the data. Why the Problem is Important Our healthcare facility is accredited with vaccines for children. Data input should be correctly done to be able to guide on the appropriate type of vaccine administered and the relevant time to vaccinate. If this is not achieved, there will be a loss of program, and services will not be offered to the public. Solution Criteria Assessment of our registry by the government is to a great extent essential. Proposed Task Statement The problem can be solved by installing a computer guide on how to correctly input the data. Allocation of resources by the management also needs to be revised. Objectives and desired outcome The objective of using Vermont Immunization Registry (IMR) at Family Medical Center is to increase efficiency in accessing immunization documentation at the center. With an electronic health record system in place at the medical centre, physicians will be able to submit data to the Vermont Immunization Registry from the electronic data record system directly via the interface. This will be such a superb tool that will ultimately lead to reduced data entry, improve the accuracy of data, fulfill the requirements of data reporting, ensure faster delivery of data, promote timely vaccinations, quick updating of records, easy printing of reports, maintain vaccine inventories, flag contraindications, increase vaccination rates and ensure ultimate improvement of patient care (www.healthvermont.gov). The Vermont Immunization registry will be an exceptional tool to support health care practices at the centre in tracking vaccine information for children at the Family Medical Centre. It will allow the professionals at the medical centre to access data in a confidential manner (www.healthvermont.gov). Literature Review The Vermont Immunization Registry is a computer-based system that enables participating health care practices to view accurate vaccination records in a secure manner. The practitioners will be able to access immunization history of each child from their practice and other enrolled Vermont providers. The information could normally be organized into one unified record that is up-to-date (www.healthvermont.gov). The registry came to establishment in 1997 by the state law. The Vermont Department of Health is the one that is responsible for its design, development, and operations. The registry collects each vaccination by patient and vaccine name, lot number, the date given, the site or route of immunization, objections and contraindications, and any other critical characteristics including previous immunization history. The Registry software enables quick and safe print out of the vital information when documentation is required by camps and day care for families requiring the shots for children for school purposes, and when required by athletic teams. All these reports will be printed out by the Registry software in the easy-to-read format (www.healthvermont.gov). As stated earlier, the Vermont Immunization Registry has incredible desired benefits to health care practices. Some of the benefits include secure online viewing of immunization records that are accurate, promotion of vaccination that is timely, quick updating of records, maintaining vaccine inventories, easy and fast printing of reports, increasing the rates of vaccinations, protecting the health of children, and flagging contraindications (www.healthvermont.gov). To become part of the registry, one would require internet access and a computer in the practice. The Registry is carefully designed to ensure that patients’ confidentiality is maintained, as well as that of families and the practice. Access is strictly limited to Vermont health care providers, and the Registry is housed by a secure server having multiple levels of password protection required. The prospective user also ought to sign a confidentiality agreement prior the training (www.healthvermont.gov). Tools and Requirements Having assessed the registry and identified it as the ideal tool to solve the problem at hand, an in-depth evaluation of the tools and requirements of probable implementation of the software is made. Below are the identified tools and requirements for probable launching and use of the software and enrollment to being part of the Registry. A computer with MS Explorer Browser Internet access (cable, or ideally DSL) A confidentiality statement that outlines the responsibilities and rights of registry use to be signed A username and password Once these tools are all in place, the next step will be to learn how to use the registry. To be able to do this, the staff from the department of health ought to be contacted so as to provide the necessary training to the staff at the medical centre (www.healthvermont.gov). Implementation The staff members at our medical centre will be informed and mobilized with regard to the upcoming training, and possible dates for training set. The contacts of the support team from the health department will have been obtained and arrangements made on when and how the training will be conveniently offered. Once the dates have been agreed upon by our medical team and the support team from the health department, the information will be put across and the training will then kick off after having all the requirements in place. Having the staff members convened at an appropriate venue within the medical centre, the support team will deliver the much awaited training. The user interface of patient information will comprise a data entry screen for entering a new patient. The application records people demographics and is able to capture multiple addresses, different types of contact information and multiple types of ID numbers. The user interface for immunization information is the immunization screen that will display immunization history and the recommendations by the forecasting algorithm on the same page but different fields that are easy to identify. The user will be able to record an immunization that is recommended by double-clicking the field that has the recommendations; the system will then prompt the user to fill in the required fields and the record will be added to the child’s record (California Statewide Immunization Information System, 2002). The Vermont Immunization Registry has a user-friendly design that ensures ease while at use and which is without complications. It is web-based, thus, requires no additional software to install. Users will also be provided with a quick guide and support information including an on-line tutorial that will be available on the registry’s site (www.healthvermont.gov). Conclusion Looking at the current state of our medical centre, it is evident that the need for a computerized system for maintaining records of immunization is critical and vital. The Vermont Immunization Registry is a design that is already operational in health care. This is the choice that will significantly solve the problem at hand and which entails tracking the immunization dates, printing school and parent reports. It will also provide information on guiding and appropriate timing for vaccine administration. The implementation of the registry at our medical centre will be of a great benefit to parents and children; it will give a quick link to the immunization history of the child, avoid over-immunization or redundant re-scheduled appointments, and provide an accurate copy of the immunization history that will be required in the school, sports or day care (California Statewide Immunization Information System, 2002). The Registry will be the considerable best-fit to achieve the stated objectives and offer a top-notch solution to the stated problem. Its user-friendliness, efficiency, high-level security and confidentiality, high speed in retrieval and printing out of data in an easy-to-read manner, and accuracy makes it a tool worth considering for implementation and subsequent use. Another factor of the Registry that is worth noting is that it produces labels and call list of individuals who are overdue for immunization. It also gives clinical reports, such as vaccine usage reports and monthly shot counts, which are useful (California Statewide Immunization Information System, 2002). It is also advisable for the management to consider allocating enough resources at the consideration of using the registry. This will facilitate the implementation processes of training and the acquisition of additional computers with internet connection so as to enable the use of the registry by the staff members at the medical centre and to make the entire immunization process and record-keeping a success. Project Plan Task Duration Start Finish Preparing and deciding on the research topic and plan 4 days 01/02/13 05/03/13 Writing and submission of the Research Proposal 5 days 06/02/13 12/02/13 Writing Critical Literature Review 5 days 14/02/13 19/02/13 Initiation and actual undertaking of the project 10 days 20/02/13 02/03/13 Testing and rectifications 7 days 03/03/13 10/03/13 Consultation with the supervisor 2 days 11/03/13 12/03/13 Final writing of research report with proper sequencing 7 days 13/03/13 20/03/13 Review and Submission of the complete report 2days 21/03/13 23/03/13 Validation Acquiring approval from stakeholders 3 days 10/16/12 10/18/12 Project Budget ITEM/ACTIVITY AMOUNT ($) Stationary & Supplies Transport and communication Typing, printing and binding Employees’ Wages Contingencies TOTAL The amounts are to be included after discussing the budget with the supervisor. References California Statewide Immunization Information System. (2002). An immunization registry benefits your practice. Berkeley: State of California, Health and Human Services Agency, Dept. of Health Services, Immunization Branch. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Achievements in Public Health: Elimination of Rubella and Congenital Rubella Syndrome—United States, 1969–2004.  Atlanta, GA: CDC. Maciosek, M., Coffield , A. Edwards, N., Flottemesch, T. Goodman, M. & Solberg, L. (2006). Priorities among effective clinical preventive services: results of a systematic review and analysis. Am J Prev Med, 31:52-61. www.healthvermont.gov. (2012). Vermont Immunization Registry. http://healthvermont.gov/hc/vtimms/overview.aspx. Read More