We found that among Medicaid children in a managed care program, who were assigned to a primary care case manager physician, up-to-date immunization rates at 18 months were still low. Age appropriate immunization rates were even lower. The temporal patterns of immunizations indicated that compliance with the immunization schedule faltered after the second month of [...]

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Among the 5,598 children studied, most were African-American (73.4%), approximately one-half were male (51%), and most mothers were in the 20 years and over age group. The designated primary care providers included public health providers (9.3%), and private providers (90.7%). Private providers included family practitioners (10.7%), pediatricians (78.3%), and other specialists. Of the 5,598 children, [...]

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Rates of immunization for 5,598 children who were moved from fee-for-service care to a newly implemented primary care case management managed care program were reviewed in 1995 as part of the Quality Assessment and Improvement Project for Medicaid Managed Care in Virginia. Managed care was implemented for Virginia’s Medicaid population through a staged geographic approach. [...]

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INTRODUCTION
Although childhood immunization is a primary disease prevention strategy, children, especially low-income children, often do not receive their vaccinations on time. Up to 40% of two-year-olds do not receive their immunizations at age-appropriate intervals. During the last two decades, sporadic outbreaks of measles in the U.S. affected thousands of children and the number of cases [...]

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