Impact of vaccine economic programs on physician referral of children to public vaccine clinics: a pre-post comparison.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program is a major vaccine entitlement program with limited long-term evaluation. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the effect of VFC on physician reported referral of children to public health clinics and on doses administered in the public sector.

Methods

Minnesota and Pennsylvania primary care physicians (n = 164), completed surveys before (e.g., 1993) and after (2003) VFC, rating their likelihood on a scale of 0 (very unlikely) to 10 (very likely) of referring a child to the health department for immunization.

Results

The percentage of respondents likely to refer was 60% for an uninsured child, 14% for a child with Medicaid, and 3% for a child with insurance that pays for immunization. Half (55%) of the physici

SUBMITTER: Zimmerman RK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1388204 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature