A coalition of public and private partnerships in Nebraska and Iowa will begin a project this month that could become a national model for increasing adult immunizations.
UNMC has been a national leader in biosafety preparedness. Now, thanks to a $300,000 sub-award to the colleges of public health and pharmacy from the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), the medical center will be able to initiate an innovative model that improves access to and reporting of immunizations among adults.
UNMC will collaborate with Hy-Vee, Nebraska Health Network (NHN), University of Iowa Health Alliance (UIHA), Iowa Immunization Registry Information System(IRIS), Nebraska State Immunization Information System (NeSIIS) and Scientific Technologies Corporation (STC), a health information technology company.
“Through this partnership, we will achieve higher synergies and strengthen relationships between community pharmacists and health agencies for the ultimate goal of improving adult immunizations rates in both states,” said Nizar Wehbi, M.D., acting deputy director for the Center for Health Policy, College of Public Health, and principal investigator of the study.
According to America’s Health Rankings 2015 Annual Report, Nebraska is the 10th and Iowa 22nd healthiest state in the U.S. But as far as immunizations, one of the ranking measures, the states do not fare as well. Nebraska is 41st in the country when it comes to adult tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough; Iowa is 45th.
All of these immunizations, plus influenza, pneumonia and shingles, are currently available at Hy-Vee pharmacies. Later this month, pharmacists at all Hy-Vee stores in the two states will be able to check a patient’s immunization status through a single sign-on to STC’s ImmsLink program.
IMMSLink can assist pharmacists to provide personalized immunization recommendations for patients and automate the reporting to the respective state immunization registries.
This reporting helps provide patients in Nebraska and Iowa access to their most complete vaccination history in one place.
“Health and wellness is a core focus for Hy-Vee and its employees,” said Kristin Williams, Hy-Vee’s senior vice president of pharmacy operations. “We are honored to work with all of the partners involved with this grant to see how we can have a positive effect on immunization rates and reporting within Iowa and Nebraska.”
Grants also were awarded to the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Washington. A total of $1.1 million was awarded for all three projects with 80 percent from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and 20 percent from NACDS.