1458 Development, Evaluation and Application of a Web-Based Immunization Registry System

Abstract

Vaccination decreases children mortality and its' application, especially in the developing world, is a means towards the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Objects: We sought to develop, apply and, evaluate a web-based immunization registry system that logs and calculates the vaccination timetable based on the age, gender, and previously administered vaccine doses. Method: We designed and created a computational system based on the Greek National Immunization Program. The system was used by pediatricians and parents for a period of 4 months (01/09/2009-31/12/2009) in Patra, Greece. Participants were asked to answer to a questionnaire. Results: In total 60 parents and 60 pediatricians used the online system and 500 vaccinations were logged. We observed time-application errors and missed doses, mainly among children older than 2 years (27%). A considerable 17% of the participants did not have the essential vaccination card and 7% of them had lost it. Parents had a positive opinion (56) about the online system mainly based on the usability and high availability. On the other hand, health-care professionals considered that the electronic assistance in calculating dosage intervals and the logging capabilities of the system, that offers the possibility to extract and statistically analyze data, were the main advantages of the system (54). Conclusion: The use of information technology may help parents to keep up with the immunization schedules, health-care professionals to calculate dosage intervals, provide them with a valuable data analysis tool and, contribute in the effective application of the national immunization policy.