New Be Wise — Immunize resource for immunizations from TMA

Be Wise — Immunize immunization toolkit

Seven years ago, the Texas immunization landscape was bleak. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2000 National Immunization Survey ranked Texas last in the nation for the number of children between 19 and 35 months who had received the 4:3:1 vaccine series. Four years later, Texas climbed to 41st and rests at 24th today.

Immunization initiatives and health care professionals’ efforts have helped close the gap. Even so, getting people to keep their vaccinations current hasn’t gotten any easier. Ever-expanding immunization schedules combined with the cost of administering and storing increasingly expensive vaccines and inadequate reimbursement by health care payment plans place a burden on primary care physicians.

To help physicians overcome these hurdles, Texas Medical Association’s Be Wise — ImmunizeSM program published the Physician Immunization Toolkit, a comprehensive booklet physicians can use for best practice guidelines, immunization schedules, Texas Immunization Registry ImmTrac information, outreach initiative details, vaccine safety standards and other Texas-specific resources. It also includes colorful promotional posters for physicians’ waiting and exam rooms and educational handouts for patients in English and Spanish.

Since its inception in 2004, 70,000 shots have been administered under Be Wise — Immunize, a joint initiative led by TMA member physicians and the TMA Alliance. The TMA Foundation provides funding for the program. Gifts from the Cook Children’s Health Care System in Fort Worth, the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston and the American Medical Association Foundation’s Fund for Better Health made the toolkit possible.

One-stop shopping

In developing the immunization toolkit, TMA’s Public Health Department convened an eight-member panel of physicians and immunization experts who spent about one year compiling information for the booklet.

Andrew Eisenberg, M.D., a family physician and panel member, says the toolkit is constantly evolving with the continued expansion of immunization schedules and new vaccines hitting the market. “The biggest benefit is going to be its use as a one-stop shopping resource,” he says. “There are more up-to-date, focused information and tools in one spot that physicians can access.”

Among those tools is a chapter dedicated to tips on communicating with parents, including information about thimerosal and conscientious objection. The toolkit offers physicians expert opinions from the CDC, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to address parents’ concerns about immunization.

Ari Brown, M.D., a pediatrician and a member of the advisory panel, spends a lot of time counseling parents about why it’s important to vaccinate their children. She says the toolkit’s talking points help doctors anticipate patients’ questions and concerns about immunization. “When you’re prepared and know about what parents are hearing, there are no surprises.”

Improving communication and familiarizing the public with immunization requirements aren’t the toolkit’s only targets. Brown hopes it will educate and inform doctors who haven’t customarily given vaccines in their practices.

“Traditionally, pediatricians and family practice doctors have carried the bulk of vaccinating our population,” she said. “Now, with the expansion of our vaccination schedules, internal medicine doctors and obstetricians need to also embrace that vaccines are a part of their daily practice.”

One of the toolkit’s strengths will be its online presence, which will allow for quick searches by topic. Practices without Internet access can request a toolkit while supplies last by contacting the Be Wise coordinator at (800) 880-1300, ext. 1470, or (512) 370-1470. An online version of the toolkit can be accessed on TMA’s Web site at www.texmed.org/bewise. The site also provides additional immunization-related resources, and allows physicians to become Be Wise — Immunization Advocates.