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PROW Standards of Excellence endorsed by NVAC
The potential for registries to support other program components of an immunization project is attracting increasing attention nationally. Last year, AIRA released its PROW Registry Standards of Excellence in Support of an Immunization Program. The publication provided an important opportunity to partner with AIRA’s sister association, the Association of Immunization Managers (AIM), as well as the Registry Support Branch at NIP.
Publication of the Standards of Excellence also led to a resolution by the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) in February 2003. The resolution supports the concept of registries playing a greater role in supporting other components of an immunization program, and reads:
“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. ”
AIRA thanks Dr. Lance Rodewald and Dr. Robb Linkins of the NIP, and Dr. Alan Hinman of NVAC, for helping this important resolution come to pass. Drs. Orenstein, Rodewald, and Linkins are signatories on a Dear Colleague letter that will accompany copies of the PROW Standards when they are mailed to all Immunization Program Managers and Registry Managers. This is a follow-up to a presentation and round table discussion of PROW at a recent Program Managers meeting.
With all this impetus behind its release, PROW now begins its active implementation phase. An Implementation Committee is currently examining how to best promote PROW and, very importantly, to identify other best practices that can be incorporated into future publications. Identifying ways to incorporate questions on PROW into the Annual Immunization Registry Report to CDC is also part of its task.
The Committee is also identifying a range of immunization projects to use the PROW Standards and offer feedback on the process they used to review and select the Standards. If you have questions on PROW or are interested in being a demonstration site, please contact Bill Brand, PROW Chair, at 612-676-5144 or bill.brand@health.state.mn.us.