Evaluating Partial Series Childhood Vaccination Services in a Mobile Clinic Setting

Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2020 Jun;59(7):706-715. doi: 10.1177/0009922820908586. Epub 2020 Feb 28.

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.

Keywords: childhood vaccination; cost-benefit analysis; mobile clinic; partial series.

MeSH terms

  • Cost-Benefit Analysis / economics*
  • Humans
  • Immunization Programs / economics*
  • Immunization Programs / statistics & numerical data
  • Mobile Health Units / economics*
  • Mobile Health Units / statistics & numerical data
  • Poverty
  • Texas
  • Transients and Migrants
  • Vaccination / economics*
  • Vaccination / statistics & numerical data