What's the Difference between Evaluation
and Certification of Immunization Registries?

There has been much discussion and confusion regarding evaluation and certification of immunization registries. Here's an offering to clarify these two separate processes.

Evaluation: A standardized process conducted by the National Immunization Program (NIP) during annual site visits to determine an immunization registry's progress toward meeting the technical functional standards. Participation is mandatory for CDC-funded immunization projects. An incremental, weighted scoring process is applied to allow for more accurate and comparable data from one year to the next. A major purpose of these evaluations is to assist states in defining problems and finding solutions. This standardized process will provide data for annual reports and correct some of the inconsistencies in previous data collection methods.

Certification: A process conducted by an accrediting body (yet to be identified) to determine if an immunization registry has attained all of the functional standards. It is not meant to measure progress, only attainment. Participation is voluntary. The status of being "certified" or "accredited" must be assured and ongoing. The certifying agent must have a system in place that periodically reviews accredited registries and is able to handle problems and complaints - withdrawing its accreditation, if necessary. To date, CDC has not been able to identify a certification process or an accrediting body that can be supported with existing resources and has advised the National Vaccine Advisory Committee of that fact.

Both CDC and AIRA are committed to helping registries move forward in registry development and implementation and to work together to provide methods to demonstrate success.

There will be two opportunities to learn more and discuss this subject at the Immunization Registry Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas. Diane Simpson and Robb Linkins will be giving presentations on Monday, July 9th, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., in Breakout Session B2 with a repeat session on Tuesday, July 10th, 10:30 a.m. - noon, in Breakout Session C1.

Source: Karen Fowler, CDC National Immunization Program, and Amy Metroka, AIRA President

June 2001 SnapShots Headlines