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Evaluating Partial Series Childhood Vaccination Services in a Mobile Clinic Setting
Weiwei Chen1, Sanghamitra M Misra2,3, Fangjun Zhou4
1Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA.
Insights
Mobile clinic vaccination services for low-income children offer significant societal cost savings. Every dollar invested yields substantial returns, especially during dedicated vaccination events, highlighting the value of these programs.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Health Economics
- Vaccinology
Background:
- Mobile clinic programs (MCPs) provide essential health services to underserved populations.
- Vaccination is a critical public health intervention, but access can be a barrier for transient and low-income families.
- Evaluating the economic impact of MCPs is crucial for resource allocation and program sustainability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the cost-benefit of vaccination services offered by a mobile clinic program (MCP) in Houston.
- To compare the cost-benefit of MCP vaccination services with traditional office-based settings.
- To identify strategies for enhancing the economic value of MCP vaccination services.
Main Methods:
- Cost-benefit analysis incorporating vaccine efficacy/effectiveness data.
- Inclusion of patients from regular service days and dedicated vaccination events in 2014.
- Estimation of societal cost averted per dollar spent on vaccinations.
Main Results:
- MCP vaccination services demonstrated a positive societal return on investment.
- For every dollar spent, $0.9 in societal cost was averted during regular service days.
- During vaccination-only events, every dollar spent averted $3.7 in societal costs.
Conclusions:
- Mobile clinic vaccination services are a cost-effective strategy for improving childhood immunization rates among vulnerable populations.
- Vaccination events represent a particularly high-yield approach for maximizing cost-benefits.
- Improving operational efficiency and increasing the frequency of vaccination events can further optimize the economic value of MCPs.
Abstract:
This study aims to evaluate the cost-benefit of vaccination services, mostly partial series administration, provided by a mobile clinic program (MCP) in Houston for children of transient and low-income families. The study included 469 patients who visited the mobile clinics on regular service days in 2 study periods in 2014 and 836 patients who attended vaccination events in the summer of 2014. The benefit of partial series vaccination was estimated based on vaccine efficacy/effectiveness data. Our conservative cost-benefit estimates show that, compared with office-based settings, every dollar spent on vaccination by the MCP would result in $0.9 societal cost averted as an incremental benefit in regular service days and $3.7 during vaccination-only events. To further improve the cost-benefit of vaccination services in the MCP, decision-makers and stakeholders may consider improving work efficiency during regular service days or hosting more vaccination events.
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