Provider Recruitment and Retention in an Immunization Registry

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Provider Recruitment and Retention in an
Immunization Registry
37th National Immunization Conference March 19,
2003 Chicago, Illinois
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Authors

• Katie Reed, MPA - PHS
• Cynthia OConnor, MPA - OCHD
• Susan Maute - PHS
• Maureen Murphy, MPA - PHS

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Partners In Health Systems

• Company contracted to manage, maintain and
  support regional registries across much of
  Upstate New York since 1995.
• Registry Application, HealthyShot.
• Currently installed in 36 counties across NYS.
• Support team comprised of coordinator, support,
  and development all employed by PHS.

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The WE of the project

• PHS
• Project Director
• Project Coordinator
• Software Engineer
• Database Administrator
• Account Manager
• Implementation Representative
• OCHD Lead Agency
• Project Administrator
• Health Educator
• Outreach Staff
• MCHD Lead Agency
• Project Administrator
• NYSDOH Regional Staff and LHU staff

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HealthyShot Regions

• Regional Registries operating within a state-wide
  system.
• Work in close collaboration with lead agencies
  (Monroe and Onondaga County) and county health
  departments.
• All provider participation is voluntary.
• Written consent gained per patient.

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Where Healthy Shot is Used
Original CNYIR region
Statewide Deployment using CNYIR model
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Our Goal

• Provider owns the Immunization Registry in the
  office, meaning.
• Timely data
• Quality data
• Becomes the priority for both the registry and
  the provider leads to sustainable registry.

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Our Approach

• Recruitment Strategies
• Retention Strategies

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Recruitment Strategies

• Message Delivery
• Consistent across all sources
• Providers first, show respect
• Meet them at every level
• Physician
• Office Manager/Nurse Manager
• Clerk
• Share the milestones, often. No one wants to
  left out.

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Perseverance and Patience

• The message is solid, dont lose faith.
• Some like to be courted.
• Sometimes barriers to the office, can be overcome
  with a little outside facilitation.
• Dont stop. It may take days or it may take
  years, but either way the commitment is worth it.

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Outline Processes

• The unknown is often easy to avoid
• Show what is next to everyone
• Be clear and detailed
• Implementation Workbook
• What are you willing to do, what do you want them
  to do?

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Retention Strategies

• Know your sites, rank them i.e. Beginner,
  Intermediate, Operational
• Care Calls
• User Meetings
• Newsletters
• Milestones
• Listen to their requests reference
  Quasi-technical Solutions to Provider
  Participation
• Survey reference User Satisfaction Survey and
  Quality Improvement
• Team Orientation
• AFIX Worksheet tie into IAP

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Benefits both Recruitment and Retention

• Schools
• Daycares
• MCO
• Lead
• WIC
• Healthy Start

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Milestones- both Recruitment and Retention

• These are important for everyone
• Dont just focus on the big, but the incremental
• Celebrate often
• Communicate often

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How do we keep track of success

• Simple graphs that show us we are on target
• Increase in sites
• Increase in children
• Increase in immunizations
• Review them often to make sure what you do is
  working.

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Sample Graph
GROWTH IN CHILDREN
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Final Comments

• Dont forget the importance of your goal, it is
  more then just collecting data.
• Remember your team includes the entire community,
  both the registry folks and those using the
  registry.
• Make sure the registry brings value to the entire
  community.

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Contact Information

• Katie Reed
• Director, Public Health
• Partners In Health Systems
• PO Box 249
• 5703 Enterprise Parkway
• Dewitt, NY 13214
• 315-446-1612 ext 7217
• kreed_at_phs-us.com