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President's Column
In this issue, we read about the final meeting of All Kids Count, bringing to a close twelve years of vital and decisive support for immunization registry development and integration. AKC was largely responsible for moving registries from a daunting experiment ("Will they work?") to today's emphasis on standards and best practices ("How do they work best?").
The most valuable legacy of AKC lies, to my mind, in two related areas: (1) the emphasis on peer learning and sharing; and (2) the compiling and sharing of best practices.
That is a legacy AIRA inherited from All Kids Count—just like we did this SnapShots newsletter—and one we take on with much eagerness. In 2004, AIRA will be launching two critically important information sharing technologies to build on and continue the legacy of AKC: (1) a web-based Registry Profile to enable easy searching for registries that have features of interest to you; and (2) a Knowledge Sharing Repository to compile and share best practices across registries.
You will be hearing a lot more about these in the near future. For now I want to emphasize the one factor that is absolutely essential to us being able to learn from each other—our willingness to take the time to share what we know.
It's so true that we often take what we do well for granted, and don't think that it might be the solution someone else is looking for. When we consider the resources we invest to develop a new technology, policy, routine, or other solution, doesn't it make sense to spend just a little more time to let others know of our work? What's been missing for those outside of the AKC family is an easy way to do that. That is the role of AIRA—our legacy from AKC. But it can only happen when you and all of us make it happen.
We are all, in fact, part of a community of practice, as AKC highlighted and supported so well. Being part of that community means actively participating in its life and contributing to its vitality. I look forward to learning from the best practices you've developed and now share with the registry community.
Source: Bill Brand, MN