Tracking vaccine compliance in a primary care setting: online history, reminders, order entry, and charting.

In a new primary care setting with three medical disciplines participating, a vaccine history and order entry system was implemented along with other online documentation systems as the primary documentation tools for the clinic. Reminders were generated based upon a set of algorithms consistent with 1998 nationally accepted vaccine guidelines. Vaccine compliance data were analyzed for the entire population cared for in this setting for a 6 month period. Rates of compliance with national recommendations for eight key vaccine groups were calculated based on the online data. Trends in the rates of compliance, interpreted within limitations, showed statistically and clinically significant improvements. The immunization application accomplished several goals: accurate history and patient-specific recommendations, online ordering of vaccines or serum products, online charting of administration that, in turn, automatically maintained the vaccine history.