COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

Health Department

DATE:

October 26, 2005

BOARD MEETING DATE:

November 15, 2005

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Charlene A. Silva, Director, Health Department

Brian Zamora, Director, Public Health & Environmental Protection

SUBJECT:

Agreements with the State Department of Health Services for the Immunization Assistance Program and the Immunization Registry

RECOMMENDATION:

Adopt resolutions:

1)

Authorizing the execution of an agreement with the State Department of Health Services for the Immunization Assistance Program for the term of July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006 in the amount of $350,024, $32,871 net County cost; and

2)

Authorizing the execution of an agreement with the State Department of Health Services for the Immunization Registry for the term of July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006 in the amount of $31,686.

VISION ALIGNMENT:

Commitment: Ensure basic health and safety for all

Goal(s) 6: Children grow up healthy in safe and supportive homes and neighborhoods

These agreements contribute to the goal by providing funding to support immunization activities to increase immunization rates in San Mateo County; and by providing funding to continue development of the Bay Area regional immunization registry (BARR), which will allow more children in the county to receive complete immunizations.

Performance Measure(s):

Measure

FY 2004-05
Actual

FY 2005-06
Projected

Percentage of low-income children with up-to-date immunizations at age 2

71%

75%

Number of new clinics/providers that have implemented BARR by the end of the fiscal year

5

7

BACKGROUND:

The Health Department strives to reduce and ultimately prevent the incidence of disease among its youngest children by ensuring that infants and toddlers are up-to-date on immunizations. Its goal is to achieve the Healthy People 2010 objective that 80% of the County’s children will be up-to-date on immunizations by age two. To date, the County has fallen short of this goal, with approximately 70% of its youngest children meeting the target. Furthermore, disparities exist as African-American, Asian, and Hispanic children fall far below the countywide rate.

San Mateo County is one of ten jurisdictions that participate in the BARR Collaborative. The State Department of Health Services supports the County’s implementation of BARR though its Immunization Assistance Program (IAP) and Immunization Registry grant agreements.

DISCUSSION:

In November 2004, Public Health embarked on the first phase of the Countywide implementation of the BARR. Public Health staff collaborated with the San Mateo Medical Center (SMMC) to implement the Registry at five SMMC outpatient clinics. Plans for FY 2005-06 include: conducting outreach and recruitment activities to private providers; assisting with the entry of demographic data on children seen by private providers into BARR; manually entering immunization data from private provider records into BARR; training private providers to use the Registry; and continuing to support SMMC outpatient clinics in utilizing the Registry.

Funding provided by the State in both the IAP and Registry agreements will facilitate the rapid development of BARR. Registry activities funded by the agreements include: Registry data entry assistance; costs for four quarterly Immunization Registry Advisory Board meetings; working with SMMC to improve immunization delivery; providing vaccine and patient information materials to SMMC and clinics; a $44,000 contract for Ravenswood Family Health Center to support and enhance immunization services in the South County area; and a $35,000 contract with the Health Plan of San Mateo (HPSM) to recruit providers for BARR participation and to inform HPSM members of the regional registry.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The term of each agreement with the State Department of Health Services is July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006. Total amount of the Immunization Registry agreement is $31,686, and the total amount of the IAP agreement is $350,024. Both have been included in the adopted FY 2005-06 budget. The net County cost for IAP is $32,871, and there is no net County cost for the Immunization Registry.