Survey of Paper Reporters to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System

The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), under the joint administration of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Immunization Safety Office, and the Food and Drug Administration monitors adverse events occurring after vaccine administration. Reports come from patients, parents, providers, and manufacturers via a paper-based or online form. Internet-based reporting was implemented in 2002 to speed notification and improve reporting accuracy, yet in 2010 only 38% of health care providers submitted reports online.

To understand why they chose paper over online submission, we interviewed 100 randomly selected healthcare providers by phone who submitted paper reports to VAERS from September through December 2010. A registered nurse interviewed providers approximately 2-4 weeks after paper form submission.

Respondents worked in pediatric offices (29%), pharmacies (20%), public health departments (17%), employee and occupational health (16%), family practices (15%), and other settings (15%). Sixty-eight percent were aware online reporting was available, and 6% had submitted a VAERS report online in the past. Reasons for submitting paper forms included ease of reporting (45%), necessity for a paper report in the office (40%), speed (29%) and lack of knowledge of the online reporting option (27%). Possibilities to increase electronic reporting include modifying the current online reporting system, integrating the online VAERS report into electronic medical record systems at physicians' offices and an outreach campaign to increase awareness of electronic reporting.