|
|
|
|
 
Institute of Medicine
500 Fifth Street NW
Washington DC 20001
iomwww@nas.edu
tel: 202.334.2352
fax: 202.334.1412
Media Contact
(Journalists Only)
news@nas.edu
tel. 202.334.2138
fax: 202.334.2158
Staff Directory
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Immunization Finance Chicago Workshop
| Event Date: |
|
June 15, 2001 - June 15, 2001 |
|
|
In 2000, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released the report Calling the Shots: Immunization Finance Policies and Practice. This report recommended that the Nation's immunization system needed to be revitalized to maintain strength and prevent future disease outbreaks. On June 15, 2001 state and local health officials from Illinois, Michigan, and the cities of Chicago and Detroit met with representatives from federal health agencies, private health insurance plans, medical societies, and health centers to examine the implications of the findings and recommendations of the IOM report for their jurisdictions.
Despite record levels of vaccination in the United States, the country's immunization system is weakening in spots, increasing the risk of disease outbreaks, says the IOM report. It recommends an overhaul of the way the system is financed, including an investment of more than $1.5 billion over five years by federal and state governments, and better integration of public and private vaccination efforts. Last year, following the release of the IOM study, the U.S. Congress added $42 million to the budget for the CDC National Immunization Program to increase grants to the states to support their immunization efforts.
A look past the high national and state-level immunization coverage rates reveals a system that has multiple demands, budgetary shifts, and reduced resources, which is ill-equipped to meet future needs, the IOM report says. State and local public health agencies are unprepared to lead efforts to deliver new vaccines, step up efforts to immunize adults with chronic health problems or eliminate persistent disparities in vaccine coverage between low-income groups and the general population. Other gaps in the system include the inability to assess and improve coverage rates, the lack of a comprehensive adult immunization program, and spotty oversight of private health plans' performance in meeting the needs of low-income populations.
In the June 15th workshop, committee members from the original IOM study--David R. Smith, president of the Texas Health Sciences Center at Texas Tech University and Samuel Katz, professor emeritus of pediatrics at Duke University--highlighted the report's findings and recommendations. State health officials, including John Lumpkin, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health; John Wilhelm, commissioner for the Chicago Department of Public Health; Gillian Stoltman, director of the division of communicable disease and immunization, Michigan Department of Community Health; and Melinda Dixon, medical director of the Detroit Health Department, highlighted opportunities and challenges within their districts that involve issues of assessment, access to care, and outreach efforts that reflect concerns addressed by the IOM report.
The IOM workshops gave special attention to pockets of need that represent significant public health challenges across the United States. In this first workshop, Jorge Rosenthal, epidemiologist from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, presented data describing persistently low immunization coverage rates within the Englewood neighborhood in Chicago. Other speakers, including Paul Giblin from the Children's Hospital in Detroit, described troubling trends within the health care delivery system in other metropolitan areas that affect the quality of health care and immunization coverage rates.
Afternoon speakers considered interactions and partnership opportunities between public and private health plans and health care systems in improving immunization coverage rates for child and adult populations. Speakers include: William Shaffner, department of preventive medicine, Vanderbilt University; James Bridges, medical director, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Southeast Michigan; and Carol Wilhoit, medical director for quality improvement, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Illinois.
The workshop concluded with two roundtable discussions that highlighted unresolved problems and significant challenges as well as next steps and future strategies for addressing the weaknesses of the national and local immunization programs.
View the agenda and presentations from this workshop
Read the summary of the Chicago workshop
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Last Updated: 11/11/2003, 11:18 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|