Executive Director's Update
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With the unofficial close of summer upon us, I reflect on the past month and how busy things have been. I returned from leave on the 4th and was welcomed back by the monkeypox response. I know there are lots of questions and concerns and many of you are working through the various aspects of the response today. We here at AIRA are aware of the evolving challenges. We have been working with our board and subject matter experts to help provide clarifications and considerations to our federal partners at the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and CDC on behalf of the community.
The Data Modernization Consortium is continuing to talk through what certification of public health systems might look like and how this initiative may impact the efforts already underway within our community. I was honored to attend the CIVITAS annual conference on August 21-24 in San Antonio, Texas. I joined colleagues from the Association of Immunization Managers (AIM), Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), CDC, CIVITAS, and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) for a panel discussion titled “IIS and HIE Integrations to Advance Public Health Action.” I spent the final days of August at the AIM Leadership Workshop. What a great few days it was spending time with many of you. Alison Chi and Mary Beth Kurilo were also onsite helping pass out much-deserved treats.
I was blessed with my children heading back to school in the middle of the month, a rite of passage many of you are also in the midst of this week. I hope that you all can stop for a breath this month amid the start of new COVID-19 boosters, the annual influenza campaign, back to school, and catching up the millions of Americans who are behind on routine immunizations—this is no small hope. I wish you all a pleasant transition to cooler temperatures, and for those who like pumpkin spice—enjoy all the things that should never be made with pumpkin spice.
Rebecca Coyle, MSEd
Executive Director
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AIRA is continuing to explore and implement optimal ways to support the IIS community as part of the rapidly evolving monkeypox response. We recognize the IIS community is faced with multiple challenges related to monkeypox vaccine ordering, inventory/wastage tracking and reporting, shipping information, provider agreement implementation, and tracking and reporting vaccine administration data. AIRA is working to share concerns and help identify potential solutions with partners across federal agencies coordinating the response.
A few weeks ago, AIRA was able to convene members of our board of directors, AIM partners, and other representatives to meet with CDC and ASPR to discuss questions and offer input on current response planning. The group suggested recommended solutions to help streamline various aspects of the response and reduce burden on health departments. We have also met with federal partners to advocate for funding to support IIS efforts for this response.
We have added a monkeypox response web page on the AIRA website that includes links to relevant information related to tracking of vaccine distribution and administration. We will continue to update content on this site as information and guidance become available.
We know many uncertainties still exist, and we greatly appreciate the investment and input from all of you who are working on this as you are still responding to COVID-19 and so many other routine needs. We will continue to work to amplify your input and perspectives, and we will share information as it becomes available. Please reach out to AIRA if we can support you in additional ways.
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Welcome New Staff to AIRA
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We’re excited to introduce three new AIRA staff members!
Alexandra Hayes joined AIRA as a senior project manager in July 2022. She discovered her passion for the public health field while serving in the US Peace Corps in Panama and has worked within the immunization and IIS communities for the last 10 years. Prior to joining AIRA, Alexandra served as a CDC public health advisor for two state immunization programs, occupying roles within operations, project, and grant management.
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Gabriella Wagoner joined AIRA in August 2022 as the communications specialist. Prior to this role, Gabriella worked as a certified nursing assistant in a memory care facility and as an anesthesia technician in an operating room. Most recently, Gabriella interned for Global Environmental Health LAB, where she was responsible for stakeholder engagement, communications, and program management and operations.
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Rachael Miles joined AIRA in August 2020 as a consultant on the IZ Gateway Team and joined that team as AIRA staff last month. Rachael began her work in the IIS community in 2017 with the Wyoming Immunization Unit. During her time in Wyoming, she was the IIS support specialist and IIS interoperability specialist.
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New Guide: Data Quality Assurance in Immunization Information Systems
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AIRA and the Modeling of Immunization Registry Operations Workgroup (MIROW) are excited to announce that a new MIROW guide, Data Quality Assurance in Immunization Information Systems, is now available. The guide and mini-guide are available in the AIRA repository.
Highlights of guide
- Key concepts related to data quality
- Data quality considerations during the provider onboarding process and for managing incoming data submissions
- Best practices for monitoring and evaluating data at rest and implementing provider organization management
- Principles and business rules to guide data quality assurance activities
- Implementation considerations
Our hope is that this guide and mini-guide will be useful in improving and sustaining data quality assurance in immunization information systems.
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Register Today for Epi Shared Services Mini-Series for Data Analysts
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The Epi Shared Services (ESS) Mini-Series is a short-duration discussion group offered to data analysts in the immunization community. The mini-series is designed to increase community sharing and learning about IIS data analyst topics. Discussion will be implementation focused. Participants will engage with peers in guided discussion on topics relevant to IIS data analysts, present challenges and successes, ask questions of their community, and more.
- The ESS Mini-Series will take place during six 75-minute sessions over six weeks.
- Key takeaways from the ESS Mini-Series will be compiled into an actionable community resource guide.
- New and seasoned epidemiologists/data analysts are welcome!
This opportunity is limited to 20 individuals in the community. Register by September 21 to be considered for this initiative. If you have questions, please contact Taylor Boomsma.
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Now Available! Provider Onboarding Templates for Jurisdictional Use
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AIRA is excited to announce the availability of five standardized templates to support IIS with provider onboarding. These templates can be used as guidance in developing local processes and documentation or to help identify where existing resources can be modified to better align with the recommendations identified within AIRA’s Onboarding Consensus Based Recommendations. They are intended to be personalized and modified to meet jurisdictional needs.
Available provider onboarding templates include:
- Onboarding Readiness Checklist: a tool used to provide an overview of activities that need to be completed by a provider to prepare for onboarding and data exchange
- Onboarding Registration Form: a tool used to capture basic information from a provider organization that wants to exchange data with your IIS
- Onboarding Questionnaire: a questionnaire used to capture detailed information from a provider regarding population served, immunization practice, patients, and electronic health record (EHR) system used
- Onboarding Guide: a tool used to provide information about the IIS onboarding process for provider organizations to establish and test data exchange with an IIS system
- Onboarding and Interface Project Tracking Tool: a tool that allows IIS to monitor and track provider organizations’ onboarding progress
For more information, please visit the Onboarding Templates page on the AIRA website or email [email protected].
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IIS Best Practices Community of Practice
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AIRA is launching a new community of practice, the Immunization Information System (IIS) Best Practices Community of Practice (CoP), which will support the creation and curation of best practice recommendations for IIS with a focus on operational best practices. The IIS Best Practices CoP will provide a forum for collaboration among IIS stakeholders and experts to analyze existing practices, brainstorm new approaches, and develop consensus-based best practices. The members of the IIS Best Practices CoP will identify community needs for new best practices, monitor the status of existing best practice offerings, and support the development of best practice guidance resources.
Who can join the IIS Best Practices CoP?
The IIS Best Practices CoP is an open group that, ideally, will include experts from IIS programs, public health organizations, CDC, and IIS and EHR implementers/vendors.
When is the first meeting?
The first meeting of the IIS Best Practices CoP will be on October 19 from noon to 12:50 p.m. ET. The meetings will be monthly on the third Wednesday of the month from noon to 12:50 p.m. ET.
How can I join?
You can join the IIS Best Practices CoP by filling out this short form.
Background about the development of the CoP
The IIS Best Practices CoP is evolving from and replacing the Modeling of Immunization Registry Operations Workgroup (MIROW) Steering Committee. The important work of MIROW will continue as a part of the new CoP. The CoP will take on the activities of MIROW in addition to exploring new methodologies and products for the development and communication of best practices. MIROW guides and resources will continue to be available, and the IIS Best Practices CoP will create new MIROW-style guides and resources in the future. The CoP can decide to do a MIROW-style project and develop MIROW guides and resources. At the same time, the CoP can explore projects which might not match the MIROW development approach, and these projects would not be labelled as “MIROW.” This approach will support the continuation of the comprehensive work of MIROW while exploring innovative opportunities for collaboration and support of the IIS community.
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Send Us Your Immunization Interoperability Challenges!
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The Immunization Integration Program (IIP) wants to hear about your immunization interoperability challenges. We are accepting topics to consider for the 2023 project year to improve interoperability. The new issue intake poll is open from August 29 through September 15. A “suggested topic” should include challenges or barriers to immunization interoperability involving several groups across the health and care ecosystem, including public health IIS managers and immunization program managers, IIS technology partners, health IT/EHR developers, clinicians and clinic staff, and health information exchanges (HIEs). A previous topic example that the IIP Collaborative has addressed is acknowledgment message handling to improve immunization data quality. This topic impacted multiple groups across the community and was deemed vital to improving immunization interoperability and data quality. Please provide as much information about your topic suggestion as possible and be specific about potential solutions and outputs you believe would improve immunization data exchange. We appreciate your suggestions and input! For more information about IIP and its current and past projects, visit us at www.himss.org/what-we-do-initiatives/immunization-integration-program.
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Measurement & Improvement: Data at Rest into Assessment
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AIRA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the members of the Measurement for Assessment and Certification Advisory Workgroup (MACAW) met in person July 26–28, 2022, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to gain consensus on the next steps for the Measurement and Improvement (M&I) Initiative. The group achieved consensus to move 45 Data at Rest (DAR) measures currently in Testing and Discovery into Assessment.
As the next step in the M&I process, AIRA has created a draft DAR Measures and Tests document in preparation for the DAR Discovery Session and Town Hall on Monday, October 3 at 4 p.m. ET. AIRA staff Assi Diallo and Eric Larson will review data and proposed measures with the IIS community. All members of the IIS community are invited to register and attend to help guide the next steps of the M&I process for DAR.
Save the date: fall 2022 Interoperability Training Course
AIRA staff Nathan Bunker and Assi Diallo are currently busy preparing materials to host an Interoperability Training Course this November and December. Additional details, including how to register, will be available next month.
Updated reports
2022 second-quarter aggregate Assessment and basic and complete Validation reports have been published to the AIRA repository.
Questions, want to participate, or need help?
AIRA’s technical assistance team is ready to assist you in understanding your Aggregate Analysis Reporting Tool (AART) dashboard and results, prioritizing work, and moving your IIS toward better alignment with standards. Fill out a Technical Assistance Request or contact [email protected].
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AIRA members can submit and review information requests—a circulation of questions to and answers from the community. The recent information request on the topic below can be found by using the “Information Requests” filter in the AIRA repository.
- HEDIS Process
- Insurance HL7 Segments
- Text-Based Reminder Recall
Information requests are viewable only by individual members and individuals affiliated with member and partner organizations. Just log in to view these valuable resources! If you have any questions, please email [email protected].
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Committee and Workgroup Updates: August Recap
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HL7 Immunization User Group
- The HL7 Immunization User Group met on August 11.
- The group received updates about the Standards and Interoperability Steering Committee (SISC) and the HL7 Immunizations Innovations Workgroup.
- The committee received a presentation from Nathan Bunker on updating and deleting vaccinations and the current standard settings.
- The user group had a demo provided by Kevin Snow at Envision on implementation of updating and deleting vaccinations.
- The next meeting is September 8, 2022, from 2 to 3 p.m. ET.
Measurement for Assessment & Certification Advisory Workgroup (MACAW)
Modeling of Immunization Registry Operations Workgroup (MIROW)
- MIROW met on August 18.
- MIROW is updating the existing MIROW guides on data quality. In the August meeting, MIROW received an update on the status of the project. In August, the guide was going through the graphic design process.
- The MIROW Data Quality Assurance in Immunization Information Systems guide is now available in the AIRA repository. Learn more about the new guide in this article.
- MIROW will be transitioning to a new group structure this fall. The new group, the IIS Best Practices Community of Practice, will continue to create best practices for the IIS community. More detailed information about the IIS Best Practices Community of Practice is included here.
- Both the new guide and the new group were discussed in a Discovery Session on Tuesday, September 6 from 3 to 4 p.m. ET. The recording will be available in the AIRA repository.
- The next MIROW meeting is September 15, 2022, from 4 to 5 p.m. ET.
Power BI User Group (PUG)
- PUG met on August 23.
- Welcome, Nebraska and New Jersey! PUG has also welcomed six new users to the group since the last meeting.
- Brandon Vargo, from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, presented on the topic of “The Pennsylvania COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard – Buttons and Bookmarks.”
- The next meeting is October 25, 2022, from noon to 1 p.m. ET. Interested in joining? Please email Amber Buckland.
Smarty User Group
- The Smarty User Group met on August 17.
- Smarty User Group received a demo from Shannon Coleman from STC.
- The user group had a community discussion regarding the STC demo.
- The next meeting is November 16, 2022, from 2 to 3 p.m. ET.
Standards & Interoperability Steering Committee (SISC)
- SISC met on August 10.
- Paloma Hawry gave an update on code sets from the CDC.
- Nathan Bunker gave an update on the HL7 User Group as well as the SISC Small Group.
- The committee discussed the IIS-IIS Companion Guide with AIRA and the CDC.
- Kathleen Tully from ONC gave a presentation on Public Health Data Exchange with USCDI+.
- AIRA has a requested data for IIP Data Validation Topic(s) as well.
- The next meeting is September 14, 2022, from 1 to 2 p.m. ET.
Tableau User Group (TUG)
NOTE: Meeting minutes will capture only action items and decisions made. Recordings of the meetings can be obtained directly upon request by emailing [email protected].
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Are you interested in working for AIRA or in the IIS community? Find current job openings at AIRA and other states/jurisdictions on the Employment Opportunities and Requests for Proposals page on the AIRA website.
Opportunities for independent contractors
To be notified of future contracting opportunities, please sign up here.
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