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OLYMPIA -- Washington State's managed-care Medicaid programs rank No. 1 in three childhood immunization rates according to the 2006 annual report of Healthcare Quality from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).
The rankings show more children are protected from life-threatening diseases than ever before, but state health officials say the same national report also is a reminder that we can't let our guard down and that Washington's rates overall still need improvement.
The three vaccines cited are Diphtheria/Tetanus, Polio and Haemophilus influenzae type b. The ratings covered childhood immunizations administered in 2005. The survey is based on children who turned two years old during 2005 and who received these three vaccinations by their second birthday. In its immunization report, NCQA said:
The annual NCQA report is issued each spring and measures dozens of health-care categories with the performance of both public and private managed care plans.
"We are excited to see the progress in protecting our Medicaid children. Immunization is one of the most important decisions parents can make to protect their child's health," said State Health Officer Dr. Maxine Hayes. "These new data show the importance of partnerships. We must all work together – immunized children protect themselves as well as their own families and communities."
The Department of Social and Health Services and Department of Health are working together on several things to further increase immunization rates, including educating parents and providers about the often-missed chickenpox and 4th DTaP vaccines. They also both support the CHILD Profile system, which sends regular immunization and other health reminders to parents of Washington children from birth to age six.
CHILD Profile is the state's Immunization Registry, a key tool for increasing immunization rates in our state. The CHILD Profile Immunization Registry is a secure, centralized data system for up-to-date and accessible immunization records. Health-care providers can use the registry to track patient immunization history and check if their patients' immunizations are up-to-date.
Doug Porter, Assistant DSHS Secretary for Health and Recovery Services Administration in DSHS, cautioned that Medicaid immunization rates are still too low.
The 2006 report said that 77.7 percent of children enrolled in private health plans nationally received all recommended immunizations, while only 70.3 percent of children in Medicaid managed care plans reached the same standard.
However, both of those measures showed significant increases from 2004, when the private plans reached 72.5 percent of U.S. children and Medicaid plans vaccinated 63.1 percent.
Overall, only about 66 percent of Washington children between the ages of 19 and 35 months are fully immunized with the recommended vaccines – polio, hepatitis B, pertussis (whooping cough), chickenpox, rubella (German measles) and diphtheria.
"By the time children are school age, school immunization requirements bring these numbers up," Porter said. "But younger children are the most vulnerable to many preventable diseases – some of which are serious enough to cause prolonged illness, even death."
Porter said the good news in the NCQA report on immunization rates reflected initiatives to improve those rates in Washington State over the past four or five years.
"We have formed new partnerships with providers and clinics, and we are developing more effective ways to involve parents – who are the real keys to increasing these rates," he said.
Porter and Dr. Hayes also thanked the Washington Health Foundation, whose members include most Washington hospitals, the Washington State Medical Association and the State Nurses Association. The three organizations, along with the Department of Health, sponsored public service announcements during the past winter and spring to remind parents of the importance of immunizing their children.
THE REPORT:
The NCQA report is available on the Web at: http://web.ncqa.org/tabid/447/Default.aspx
FOR ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND, CONTACT:
Jim Stevenson, Communications Director, HRSA, DSHS, 360-902-7604 (Pager: 360-971-4067).
Donn Moyer, Department of Health media relations manager, 360-236-4076 (pager 360-786-2537).
