Wide agreement exists that immunization registries are critical to sustaining high immunization rates and low disease levels in the United States. Furthermore, we know that registries can enhance vaccine safety by providing missing or additional information to health care providers and by facilitating the monitoring of vaccine adverse events. The information provided by these computerized information systems holds multiple benefits for children, parents, health care providers, insurers, and schools.

The big question is: How do we pay for these important tools?"

All Kids Count Study

Legislative Briefing on Immunization Registries

Policy Brief: Sustaining Financial Support
for Immunization Registries

Immunization Registries: Improving Health and Health Care

The Cost of Immunization Registries: Four Case Studies

Legislative Briefing on Immunization Registries
Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter and Mrs. Betty Bumpers, wife of former Senator Dale Bumpers, joined with health experts May 1 to urge Congress to find the political will and financial backing for development of immunization registries that can ensure every child is immunized on time by age 2. View the Legislative Briefing News Release, Immunization Registry Fact Sheet and Registry Funding Charts.

Policy Brief: Sustaining Financial Support for Immunization Registries
All Kids Count, March 2000.
An informative brief that reviews the role that registries play in maintaining high immunization rates. It traces the development of registries, reports their current status, and lists the benefits to parents, providers, plans and purchasers, communities, and public health officials. It also addresses enhanced vaccine safety, and issues of privacy, confidentiality, and security. The Brief outlines cost savings that could be realized by implementing a nationwide network of registries, making a strong case for sustained funding. VIEW ONLINE (PDF)

If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, please download to view the policy brief online.

Immunization Registries: Improving Health and Health Care
A companion piece to the Policy Brief, this publication highlights reports from the "field" about how states, local governments and schools are using immunization registries.

The Cost of Immunization Registries: Four Case Studies
Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. 1998. 47 pp.
The study examined the costs--both direct and in-kind efforts--of planning, establishing and implementing immunization registry systems using a cohort of Four All Kids Counts I projects selected as representative of various types or sizes of systems. The study discusses the difficulties in obtaining accurate costs, unanticipated barriers to implementation of registry systems, as well as unexpected benefits. The study concludes with lessons learned about the substantial resources required for registry systems. Email victoria_freeman@unc.edu.

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