Programs & Tools:
VFC-AFIX Quarterly
Conference Call Minutes
January 24, 2007
Vaccines for Children Program Topics:
On this page:
Participants:
CDC: Nancy Fenlon (ncf1@cdc.gov), Holly Groom (heg4@cdc.gov), Troy Waddington
Grantees: AK, AL, AR, AZ, CO, CT, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, ME,MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, NH, NJ, NM, NV, OH, OK, OR, PA, Philadelphia, RI, San Antonio, UT, VA, Virgin Islands, VT, WA, WV, WY
VFC Management Update
ISD was provided an update on January 25, 2006 and it appears that the VFC Management Report will not be available on-line the week of February 5th. No new target date was provided. Based on this information ISD is requesting an extension from OMB.
In the mean time, in case our request to OMB is denied, please compile your data for calendar year 2006 as you would have in past years, and be prepared to submit it no later than March 1st, 2007. The survey has undergone minimal changes from last year. If you would like a preview of the survey, go to this website address: www2a.cdc.gov/nip/grantee/CY2006APR.htm and click on VFC Program. DO NOT TRY TO ENTER ANY DATA INTO THIS SURVEY; IT IS ONLY FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES.
For those using CoCASA, go ahead and run the following two reports:
- VFC/AFIX Activities Core Report CY2006
- VFC Site Visit Questionnaire Results for CDC (using data range: 1/1/2006 to 12/31/2006)
These reports will provide you with the necessary data to complete all the data tables in the survey.
If OMB denies our extension request, we will make the survey available to you (as MSWord documents) as quickly as possible. You will be able to fill these out (electronically) and return to us. We will then upload the data into the database.
VFC Operations Guide
We plan to release updated versions of the Provider Enrollment/Recruitment and Fraud and Abuse modules of the VFC Operations Guide prior to NIC.
Changes to the guide are currently being reviewed in HHS clearance but we do not have a defined time frame for how long that process will take.
Key information will be presented at NIC related to changes in the Provider Enrollment/Recruitment and Fraud and Abuse modules (see below).
NIC
NIC is scheduled to take place March 5-8, 2007 in Kansas City.
There will be 3 VFC/AFIX workshops:
A1: VFC-What’s New (a lot) and How Will It Impact my VFC Operations?
Time: 11-12:00 pm, Monday, March 5th
Location: Section A- Ballroom
Panel: Lance Rodewald, Jeanne Santoli, Kevin Malone, Nancy Fenlon and Nancy Fasano
Topics: Key Changes in VFC Program: Provider enrollment, and Fraud and Abuse (from VFC Operations Guide).
A 30 minute Q&A session is planned.
B4: Quality Improvement: More than Identifying a FIX for Immunization Issues
Time:2:00-3:00 pm, Monday, March 5th
Topic: How clinics have implemented quality improvement
Moderator: Carolyn Parry
F4: AFIX Plus: Helping to Achieve the AFIX Standards
Time: 2:00- 3:00 pm, Tuesday, March 6th
Topic: UC-San Diego and their work with providers to increase immunization coverage.
There will not be any ad hoc sessions.
CoCASA Update
A patch has been released (version 2.1) and is now available for you to download from the CoCASA website. There is a list of changes that were made to the software also available on the website. If you have questions about the changes, please feel free to contact us at the CoCASA helpdesk (nipcocasa@cdc.gov).
Users currently using any version of CoCASA can upgrade to version 2.1, and those who have not previously downloaded CoCASA can start with this version.
Important Reminder
As your field staff are preparing to send in data from their CoCASA databases for the annual VFC Program Management Survey, keep in mind what version of the software they are using. In order to successfully import data from other CoCASA databases you will need to be using the exact same version of the software as your field staff. If you are planning to upgrade to 2.1 now, your field staff will also have to upgrade their software before exporting their data to you. If you don’t feel your field staff will be able to upgrade that quickly, then do not upgrade your CoCASA until after you have received and imported data from all of your field staff. If you have questions about this, please contact us.
You do not need to upgrade to version 2.1 in order to run the reports for the VFC Program Management Survey. These reports will be accurate if you are using version 2.0.
Open Discussion
Question from Carolyn Parry, in Montana: “Montana is looking at different ways to illustrate in map format the annual assessment findings on a statewide basis. We are looking at ways to illustrate the difference between rural and urban and/or high and low volume practices”.
Response from Oregon: “I am attaching two good links for RUCA codes. Again, in Oregon we are using this system for work we are doing with Oregon Health Sciences University on immunization rates in the state”.
www.doh.wa.gov/Data/Guidelines/RuralUrban.htm#whyguide (exit)
http://depts.washington.edu/uwruca/index.html (exit)
Question:
Are qualitative AFIX visits going to be captured in the VFC Program Management Survey?
Answer:
Yes, there is a question, beneath table 5 of the survey, where you are asked to enter the number of provider sites that received qualitative AFIX assessments.
Weighting Data
There was some general discussion about the importance and difficulties of weighting data--particularly in relation to low-volume providers. This is a very broad and complicated topic. There is a resource available, through CoCASA, which you can review. To access the document, click on File, then click on Merge, answer No to the first question “Are you merging assessments because two or more people collected data from the same site and you need to merge the data together before running reports on that one site?”, then answer Yes to the question “Are you merging assessment sites to produce regional or state coverage rates?”. (If you still have version 1.4 of CoCASA, you can also access the weighting document through the Library by clicking on Library, then clicking on Weighted Vaccine Coverage Levels link.)
However, if you have specific questions about conducting weighted assessments, please contact us directly with your question and we will find a way to help you.
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Content last reviewed on January 30, 2007
Content Source: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases