Advocate links
- State and Local Government Resources
- Select a State to view resource locations.
- 317 Coalition
- Life-saving, cost-effective immunizations are significantly underfunded by Congress. ECBT has teamed with several partner organizations to create the 317 coalition to achieve increased federal funding for vaccines and vaccine programs. Visit the 317 coalition’s website to take action on this critical issue.
- Regional and National Resources
- Cost of vaccines
- The cost of fully vaccinating each child has risen dramatically with the advent of new, life-saving vaccines.
- Appropriations Chart
- Federal appropriation for the immunizations has not kept pace with the real costs of immunizing children.
- Congress not providing adequate funds to immunize
- The number of children and adolescents who can receive a "full series" of vaccines under the Section 317 program has declined precipitously in the last ten years due to increased vaccine costs and limited program funding.
HIPAA Privacy and Confidentiality
Registries are guided by government issued standards designed to protect the privacy of all users, including children, families, and providers. According to the standards all registries must have a written privacy policy that clearly defines the following:
- Notification – parents must be notified of the existence of the registry, what information will be ontained in it, and how the information will be used.
- Choice – Parents must have the right to choose if they wish to have their children participate, or not participate.
- Use of registry information – IIS information must only be used for its intended purpose and not be used in a punitive manner.
- Access to and Disclosure of registry information – Policies must clearly define who has access to registry information, what constitutes a breach of confidentiality, and what the associated penalties are.
- Data Retention – the period of time that registry information will be kept.
The United States Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) actually has two sections, Title I and Title II.
Title I deals with the protection of health insurance coverage for those people who lose or change jobs.
Title II deals with the standardization of healthcare-related information systems. It requires medical providers to ensure that they protect the privacy and security of their patients' medical information and also that they use a standard format when submitting electronic transactions, such as submitting claims to payers.
HIPAA seeks to establish standardized mechanisms for electronic data interchange, security, and confidentiality of all healthcare-related data. The Act mandates: standardized formats for all patient health, administrative, and financial data; unique identifiers (ID numbers) for each healthcare entity, including individuals, employers, health plans and health care providers; and security mechanisms to ensure confidentiality and data integrity for any information that identifies an individual.
The compliance date for HIPAA’s Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information, known as the Privacy Rule, was April 2003. The Privacy Rule governs the use and disclosure of protected health information by “covered entities”. Health care providers, health plans and health care clearinghouses are covered entities. Since most registries (IIS) do not perform covered functions (e.g. direct service payments), they are not required to comply with HIPAA. However, maintaining the privacy and security of immunization data has been and continues to be a major priority of registry developers and public health personnel nationwide.
For very detailed information on HIPAA please go to the Health and Human Services website page at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/