Abstract
Objective
To assess among US pediatricians' systems for tracking vaccine administration and
inventory and attitudes about these systems; and attitudes regarding and perceived
barriers to adoption of a 2-dimensional bar code systems.
Methods
Internet and mail survey of a nationally representative network of pediatricians between
September 2011 and January 2012.
Results
The response rate was 71% (288 of 408). The most common methods for recording vaccine
information were manual entry into an electronic (52%) or paper (27%) record; 76%
recorded information in ≥2 places. Physicians reported ordering vaccine on the basis
of seasonal increases in demand (55%), paper-based inventory (52%), or when stock
looks low (47%); 79% reported it was time consuming to track inventory and 24% reported
their practices frequently run out of vaccines. Among those participating in an immunization
information system, 29% transmitted data by automatic uploads and 58% entered data
manually. Physicians agreed that bar codes could facilitate tracking of vaccine inventory
(96%), would improve patient safety (96%), would be more reliable and accurate than
current systems (93%), and could improve the efficiency of vaccine administration
(90%). Barriers to adoption of a bar code system included need for software (52%),
information technology support (42%), and computer equipment (33%). The total cost
at which >50% reported they would definitely or probably adopt a bar code system was
between $1000 and $4999.
Conclusions
Most pediatricians report using inefficient systems for tracking vaccine administration
and inventory and recognize multiple potential benefits of incorporating vaccine bar
coding into their practice. To facilitate adoption, costs will need to be contained
and technological barriers addressed.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Academic PediatricsAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- What it will take to achieve the as-yet-unfulfilled promises of health information technology.Health Aff (Millwood). 2013; 32: 63-68
- Standards for pediatric immunization practices. Recommended by the National Vaccine Advisory Committee.MMWR Recomm Rep. 1993; 42: 1-10
- Standards for child and adolescent immunization practices.Pediatrics. 2003; 112: 958-963
- National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act: requirements for permanent vaccination records and for reporting of selected events after vaccination.Ohio Med. 1988; 84: 754-756
- Vaccine administration.(Available at:) (Accessed February 7, 2013)
- Red Book: Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases.29th ed. American Academy of Pediatrics, Elk Grove Village, Ill2012
- Frequency and causes of vaccine wastage.Vaccine. 2002; 20: 1148-1156
- Pediatric vaccination errors: application of the “5 rights” framework to a national error reporting database.Vaccine. 2009; 27: 3890-3896
- Evaluating the accuracy of transcribed computer-stored immunization data.Pediatrics. 1994; 94: 902-906
- Progress in immunization information systems—United States, 2011.MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2013; 62: 48-51
Deloitte Consulting. 2D vaccine barcode pilot resources. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/iis/2d-vaccine-barcodes/downloads/education-forum-report.pdf. Accessed February 7, 2013.
- Sentinel physician networks as a technique for rapid immunization policy surveys.Eval Health Prof. 2008; 31: 43-64
- Internet, Mail and Mixed-Mode Surveys: The Tailored Desgin Method.3rd ed. Wiley, New York, NY2009
- Comparison of e-mail, fax, and postal surveys of pediatricians.Pediatrics. 2003; 111: e299-e303
- Immunization information systems: a decade of progress in law and policy.J Public Health Manag Pract. 2015; 21: 296-303
- Use and characteristics of electronic health record systems among office-based physician practices: United States, 2001–2012.NCHS Data Brief. 2012; : 1-8
- Pediatricians' use of health information technology: a national survey.Pediatrics. 2012; 130: e1441-e1446
- Escaping the EHR trap—the future of health IT.N Engl J Med. 2012; 366: 2240-2242
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 2014 definition stage 1 of meaningful use. Available at: http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/Meaningful_Use.html. Accessed October 6, 2014.
- Guide to community preventive services. Universally recommended vaccinations: immunization information systems.(Available at:) (Accessed February 7, 2013)
- The cost of giving childhood vaccinations: differences among provider types.Pediatrics. 2004; 113: 1582-1587
- Meaningful use and immunization information systems.(Available at:) (Accessed February 7, 2013)
- Impact of a two-dimensional barcode for vaccine production, clinical documentation, and public health reporting and tracking—final report.(Available at:) (Accessed February 17, 2013)
- Prospective cost–benefit analysis of a two-dimensional barcode for vaccine production, clinical documentation, and public health reporting and tracking.Vaccine. 2013; 31: 3179-3186
- EHR-IIS 2D barcode functional capabilities report. Version 1.0.(Available at:) (Accessed January 28, 2014)
- GS1 Healthcare US guideline for suppliers. The application of GS1® DataMatrix barcodes to vaccines for point of care.(Available at:)http://www2.aap.org/immunization/pediatricians/pdf/barcoding_guidance_manufacturers_022212.pdf(Accessed January 28, 2014)Date: 2012
Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 29, 2015
Accepted:
April 30,
2015
Received:
November 7,
2014
Footnotes
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Published by Elsevier Inc.
