NEWS RELEASE
September 12, 1996

Federal Grant Means $1.3 Million For Immunization

A federal grant of $650,000 has been approved to develop a high-tech computer network that will link public and private providers in southeast Michigan for greater on-line access to childhood immunization information, the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) and the Michigan Public Health Institute (MPHI) announced today.

The grant will be matched by an equal amount from MDCH, for a total of $1.3 million, said MDCH Director James K. Haveman, Jr. The grants go to MPHI, which will act as the program coordinator. The grants will furnish computer network hardware for large vaccine providers, both public and private.

"This will allow us to develop a Childhood Immunization Information Network," said Haveman. "It will interact with the Michigan Children's Immunization Registry to give providers and administrators a fully-integrated system. This network will use standardized computer messaging protocols to enable providers to uniformly access and share vaccination information, no matter what variety of immunization tracking technology they may have."

The network will be developed in the city of Detroit and the counties of Wayne, Monroe, Washtenaw, Livingston, Oakland, Macomb, and St. Clair. It is unique in its options for involvement by private providers, officials say. Nearly 80% of immunizations in the Detroit area are delivered privately.

"I believe the registry is an important building block to improve immunization rates in the greater Detroit area," said Dr. Jeffrey R. Taylor, MPHI Executive Director. "The network will also build on successful efforts to forge public and private attitudes of cooperation and partnership in support of Michigan's immunization goals."

The federal grant is from the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program of the US Department of Commerce. Networking technologies will be matched to end-user preferences. They will include client-server, electronic data interchange, and interactive voice response technologies.

"We are very excited about these grants," said Cynthia Taueg, Director of the City of Detroit Health Department. "This will be a boost for bringing together the immunization registry efforts in the area and mobilizing tracking and monitoring vaccinations of children under two."

Poor communication among providers where children typically receive care contributes to Michigan's low immunization rate among two-year-olds, Haveman said. "Many children don't get the vaccinations they need because of a lack of accurate and timely immunization information, as well as inadequate official records to support recalls and reminders to parents that another vaccination is needed," he said. "With the interconnectivity of this new network, the Michigan Children's Immunization Registry will eliminate many of the missed opportunities and improve our rate among kids under two."

By the time they enter school, more than 95% of all Michigan children are in compliance with immunization requirements. Early childhood immunizations became a special focus after a national measles epidemic in the late 80s and early 90s. Full immunization before the age of two is important because many diseases are more serious before age two and often pose a higher risk of mortality.

Other initiatives are underway in collaboration with the Michigan Immunization Partnership, a group of more than 60 organizations representing professional medical societies, public and private providers, business, industry, and other interested parties. The initiatives include:

• Expanded capacity to help providers, both public and private, evaluate their office immunization practices to see where improvements should be made. This is a partnership of the Alliance for Immunization in Michigan, the Michigan Nurses Association, MDCH, and other groups.
  
• Initiation of a system that will allow WIC clinics to determine the current status of immunization for the 140,000 children under two whom they serve each year. If a child's immunizations are not current, a WIC clinic nurse may administer a needed vaccination at that visit or the child may be referred to another provider. Pilot programs are underway in Oakland, Muskegon, Calhoun, Berrien, Cass and VanBuren counties.
  
• Implementation of an organized structure of appropriate continuing medical education programs and services that focus on immunization. This program is being developed in partnership with the Michigan State Medical Society, the Michigan Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons, MDCH, and other state and local medical organizations.
  
• Development of a program that prepares volunteers to educate parents and others about the importance of having babies fully immunized. The program will be a partnership of the MSU Cooperative Extension Service and MDCH.
  
• A public information campaign to encourage parents to check with their physician at each visit to make sure their baby's immunizations are up to date. The campaign is a collaborative project of the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, the Michigan Association of Local Public Health, the state-wide network of Blue Care Network HMOs, General Motors, Health Plus and MDCH.
  
• Evaluation of current immunization curricula in medical and nursing education programs at Michigan universities, with the expectation that any needed revisions will be made. This is a joint project of MDCH, MSU and Ferris State University in collaboration with the deans of professional health schools at universities in Michigan.

Michigan will spend approximately $25 million on immunization this year through these initiatives, other local programs, and vaccine acquisition and distribution.