GOT PROW?

PROW: Programmatic Registry Operations Workgroup

Using your registry to support the core functions of your immunization program.

Information on immunization registries highlights their benefits to health care providers, managed care organizations, payors, schools, and health departments. But how can immunization registries support the rest of a state or local immunization program?

NEW! Download PROW Standards of Excellence Assessment Worksheets!

The PROW assessment worksheets are now available in an Excel spreadsheet format, with each activity area on a separate worksheet.

Click here to download.

California Statewide Immunization Information System (SIIS) Uses PROW Model to Implement Effective Training Program

The California Department of Health Services Immunization Branch worked with the SIIS Provider Relations Committee to devise standards of excellence for provider training. The SIIS is comprised of nine regional registries utilizing five different registry software packages. The challenge was to develop a training framework to promote high quality standards and consistency across the regions. A PROW-like set of standards was developed and assessment worksheets were designed.

Click here to read an overview of the California training program.

Click here for the training assessment instruction guide.

Click here for the training assessment worksheets.

What are the PROW Standards of Excellence?

The PROW Standards of Excellence (Adobe Acrobat pdf) provides a "blueprint" of specific ways in which immunization registries can effectively and integrally support the other core components of an immunization program. At the heart of PROW are the standards of excellence -- a set of specific best practices a registry can adapt to increase its usefulness to immunization staff. As best practices, these standards of excellence are more like a ceiling to shoot for than a set of minimum requirements. They are also very concrete and tangible.

To make it easy to implement the PROW standards, they are organized into the same program components that the federal Section 317 uses: assessment, consumer education, provider quality assurance, service delivery, surveillance, and vaccine management. For each of these components, PROW provides standards of excellence in each of three levels, from relatively easy to implement to more challenging and resource intensive.

Whether simple or complex, the standards can be very helpful in identifying enhancements when upgrading your registry application, or to use as a "shopping list" when developing requirements for a new application or RFP.

What can PROW do for your immunization program?

Create greater connection, integration and synergy across the immunization staff/teams, especially for those where the registry is not located within the immunization program.
Gain more internal organizational benefits from the investment made in your registry. Why should only external users benefit?
Develop a more fully functional, highly featured registry application.
Achieve a more integrated, seamless way to meet the needs of immunization providers and local health departments.
It can lead to greater internal support for registry funding and development.

What does the National Vaccine Advisory Committee say about PROW?

The concept of PROW has become so important that the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) gave it its endorsement.

"The NVAC believes the growing maturity and functionality of immunization registries demonstrates they can play an increasingly important and critical role with immunization programs. In particular, the recent joint efforts of the Association of Immunization Managers, the American Immunization Registry Association, and the National Immunization Program have highlighted ways in which registries can provide important support to other core program strategies, such as assessment, vaccine management, reminder-recall, and provider quality assurance. The NVAC believes the CDC should continue working with its partners to identify and disseminate best practices for registry support of an immunization program, such as those found in the Registry Standards of Excellence in Support of an Immunization Program."

Where is PROW today?

Implementation of the PROW Standards of Excellence began in October 2003 with the initation of a national demonstration project of thirteen (13) immunization registry projects. A mid-year evaluation of the demonstration sites conducted in April 2004 indicated that 83% felt that implementation of the PROW Standards of Excellence enhanced registry use by immunization program staff and that PROW is an effective strategy for increasing registry support of an immunization program.

The immunization community was kept informed of the progress of the PROW demonstration sites through presentations at the Program Managers Annual Meeting, the National Immunization Conference (NIC) and the Immunization Registry Conference (IRC).

The purpose of the PROW Centers of Excellence (Adobe Acrobat .pdf) document is to share the lessons learned through the demonstration site project and to highlight best practices. To that end, each demonstration site's final report is included in this document. The Centers of Excellence will provide you with the motivation and information you need to begin the process of implementing the PROW Standards of Exellence in your program.

How do you GET PROW?

The PROW Startup Planning Guide (Adobe Acrobat .pdf) is a tool to assist registries in planning and implementing the PROW standards of excellence.

The Start-Up Planning Guide will help you move through the process by:
   - Creating a vision for implementing the PROW standards.
   - Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your current program.
   - Establishing milestones and achievement goals.
   - Developing an implementation plan.
   - Putting the plan into action.
   - Evaluating your program’s success and the process.

For additional information on how to begin implementing PROW at your site and to get connected with a PROW mentor, contact Cindy Sutliff or Anne Cordon.