 |
|
Calculating a Clinic's Childhood Immunization Rate: Costs and Returns
Catherine Stevens, MSPH;
Victoria Freeman, RN, DrPh;
Thomas R. Konrad, PhD
Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Arch Fam Med. 1996;5(6):325-326.
|
|
| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings. |
|
|
|
While we applaud Chapman and Hacker1 for putting forth the effort to systematically analyze the inputs to an assessment of immunization rates, we must caution against generalizing that the process "can be easy and has modest costs." Having recently reviewed 1900 children's records in both pediatric and family practice offices in 8 states, we offer the following insights.
Many medical practices cannot easily create a list from which to draw a statistically meaningful sample, have other record keeping problems that make auditing difficult, or lack the personnel resources to accomplish the task. Approximately 18% (14/76) of practices accepting our invitation to participate in a record review either lacked a computer or leased a computerized billing system from an outside vendor along with their hardware. In the latter case, billing programs did not allow office personnel to sort patients by date of birth, and vendors charged $40 to $150 to
. . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]
|
