Press Releases: Colorado
January 28, 2010
Thousands of Denver Children to Receive Immunizations in School
$1.6 Million initiative — a first in the U.S. and Colorado — aims to improve childhood immunization rates by bringing vaccines to classrooms
DENVER — Denver recently was selected by the federal government as one of only two sites in the United States to test a new program aimed at increasing childhood immunization rates. The first-of-its-kind model increases access to vaccines by offering them in schools, to all students.
Under this new program, health insurance plans are billed directly for vaccines given. Parents do not receive a bill. This is a unique approach public health experts hope will keep the effort financially sustainable, allowing it to be replicated across the country if successful.
The innovative program is a partnership among Denver Public Schools, Denver Health, the University of Colorado Denver, and Kaiser Permanente. It is supported by two grants from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, totaling $1.6 million.
“We’re facing two challenges when it comes to improving childhood vaccine rates: immunizations have become a victim of their own success and there are gaps in our health care system,” said Judith Shlay, MD, Denver Health family physician and the project’s principal investigator. “One way we plan to address these issues is to make it easier for families to get vaccinations. In our model, this means bringing the vaccines directly to where the children already are — school, and developing a sustainable model that allows us to finance the delivery of vaccines in the children’s school.”
Education is in many ways the “occupation” of children, and so school-based vaccination is like workplace vaccination for adults. While the educational mission of schools is always the highest priority, classrooms have long been places where infectious diseases spread.
Denver Public Schools has been integrally involved in the implementation of this program in 20 of its elementary and 8 middle/K-8 grade schools. It has the potential to reach thousands of students. Children in the elementary schools will be offered influenza vaccinations. Children in the middle schools will be offered vaccines targeted at the adolescent age group, including meningococcal vaccine, tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine, and for females, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Seasonal influenza vaccine, H1N1 vaccine, and any other vaccines they may have missed at younger ages also will be offered.
Immunizations have been delivered in schools before, including in Colorado through the Vaccines for Children program. However, according to the research experts, these efforts typically involve short-lived donations or target under-served populations exclusively. This is believed to be the first program to offer immunizations to all students regardless of socioeconomic or health insurance status.
“Improving access to vaccines by delivering them at school is only one step in the right direction,” said Matthew F. Daley, MD, a pediatrician and vaccine research expert with Kaiser Permanente who will work with researchers at the University of Colorado and Denver Health to evaluate the program. “What is unique about this initiative is that by billing health insurance plans we can also evaluate whether giving vaccines in schools can be financially sustainable over the long term.”
“We’re proud to be a part of this pioneering partnership,” said DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg. “It’s a very good way for us to provide an important health service to the community and to our students.”
How the school-based vaccine program works:
Consent packets are sent home by the school, completed by a parent/guardian, and then returned to the school. Vaccines are provided during the school day by Denver Health nursing staff. Parents are not required to be present. Insurers of students who have health coverage are billed for the vaccine and administration fee; parents do not receive a bill. The program will notify providers when their patients receive vaccines at school, either via fax or through the state vaccine registry.
The team:
The program is being administered and implemented by Denver Health in partnership with Denver Public Schools. Vaccine researchers from the University of Colorado Denver, Kaiser Permanente, and Denver Health will evaluate the success of the model. In addition to the CDC funding, Kaiser Permanente also provided nearly $100,000 to add bilingual staff to ensure cultural competence and assist at the schools.
Key research goals:
- Evaluate the feasibility of providing vaccination services in the school setting.
- Evaluate the feasibility of billing health insurance plans for reimbursement of school-based vaccination services for insured students.
- Determine the cost of conducting school-based vaccination activities.
- Evaluate the acceptability of school-based vaccination from the perspectives of parents.
- For middle school and K-8 clinics: Compare adolescent vaccination rates in intervention schools with comparison schools not involved in the intervention.
- For the elementary school clinics: Determine the percentage of enrolled students who are fully immunized against influenza at school and receive an influenza vaccination at school.
About Kaiser Permanente Colorado
Kaiser Permanente Colorado is the state’s largest nonprofit health plan, proudly working to improve the lives and health of Denver, Boulder, and Southern Colorado area residents for 40 years. Kaiser Permanente Colorado provides comprehensive health care services to over 480,000 members through 20 medical offices and a network of affiliated hospitals and physicians. The health plan was recently named “Highest in Member Satisfaction” among Commercial Health Plans by J.D. Power and Associates for the second year in a row. Kaiser Permanente was also named the top-ranked commercial health plan and Medicare plan in Colorado by US News & World Report/NCQA. In 2008, Kaiser Permanente proudly directed more than $75 million to community benefit programs to improve the health of all Coloradans. For more Kaiser Permanente news, visit kp.org/newscenter or follows us on twitter @kpcolorado.