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Monthly Update

February 2020 in Review

www.immregistries.org

In This Issue…

  1. Save the Date for TWO Events in May!
  2. Our Newest IIS Advocate
  3. AIRA 2020 National Meeting
  4. Governance Committee Meets in Person and Retains Its Extremities
  5. Measurement and Improvement Update
  6. Save the Date: March Education Steering Committee Webinar
  7. HIMSS20 Canceled
  8. AIRA Standards Team Meeting
  9. Recent Information Requests Added to the AIRA Repository
  10. Steering Committee Updates: February Recap

Check Out the AIRA Events Calendar for Upcoming…

Save the Date for TWO Events in May!

Please join us in Atlanta, Georgia, on Monday, May 18 for the following two events the day prior to the 2020 National Immunization Conference (NIC):

AIRA Pre-NIC Training (11 a.m.–4 p.m.): Come learn how to write and present so your audience will understand you!

  • What: AIRA will hold a professional development training to cover how to write and present complex topics clearly. Lunch will be provided.
  • When: Monday, May 18, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
  • Where: The Westin Peachtree Plaza, 210 Peachtree St. NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303 (the same hotel where NIC will be held)
  • Cost: There will be a nominal registration fee. Stay tuned—more information to come shortly.

AIRA-AIM Reception (5:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.): Come mingle with your IIS community!

  • What: AIRA and AIM will host a networking evening before NIC. Appetizers and drinks will be served.
  • When: Monday, May 18, 5:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.
  • Where: Max Lager's Wood-Fired Grill & Brewery, 320 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30308
  • Cost: None

Please contact Carmela Gupta at [email protected] if you have any questions. We hope to see you there!

Our Newest IIS Advocate

AIRA is thrilled to welcome a new member in February. Amanda Branham, AIRA Membership Coordinator, and her husband Andrew and son Abe welcomed new baby William Martin Van Branham (Liam for short) on Monday, February 17, and all are doing well. Congratulations, Amanda and family, and welcome, Liam!

AIRA 2020 National Meeting

The call for abstracts for the AIRA 2020 National Meeting closed Sunday, March 1. A record-breaking number of abstract submissions were received. Speaker acceptance notifications will be sent out Wednesday, April 1. If you haven’t already, we encourage you to do the following:

  • Register to attend! The deadline to register online for this meeting at the early bird rate is Monday, June 15, 2020.
  • Book your hotel room! The discounted group rate of $192 is offered three days pre/post the event dates and is subject to hotel availability.
  • Submit an award nomination! Nominate someone for a Centers of Excellence or Volunteer Service Award by Sunday, March 29, 2020. 

Also, in case you haven’t heard the great news, AIRA’s 2020 keynote speaker is Stacy Allison, businesswoman, adventurer, author, motivational speaker, and first American woman to summit Mt. Everest! Stacy will bring inspiration as she shares her vision of collaboration and teamwork: “In any endeavor, leaders should inspire members of the team with a passion for success but within the framework of team effort. One of the most crucial things to realize, feel and remember is that when one team member succeeds, the entire team succeeds.”

For more information about the AIRA 2020 National Meeting, please visit www.airanationalmeeting.org.

Governance Committee Meets in Person and Retains Its Extremities

The governance committee of the AIRA board met in balmy Minneapolis on February 18–20. Comprised of Mandy Harris (NV), Nathalie Hartert (TN), Christy Gray (VA), Steve Murchie (Envision), and chair Aaron Bieringer (MN), the group is charged with ongoing reviews and recommendations to enhance the quality of the board—specifically to maintain proper board composition and to ensure that the board governs effectively.

This is the first time the committee met in-person, and it got a lot done! There were spirited conversations about what skills AIRA board members should have, what “diversity” means in regards to member representation, and how to communicate to AIRA members that board seats are open to all interested, qualified individuals in the community.

The governance committee will be making several recommendations to the full board regarding succession planning for the committee and board, voting rights for directors, and how to operationalize board recruiting and ongoing director education.

In addition, the committee worked through some administrative tasks. It reviewed AIRA’s conflict of interest policy, updated its operational plan, and mapped out the committee’s priorities for the rest of its term.

These activities help AIRA to maintain good corporate governance and to represent best the interests of its members.

From left to right (front row): Maureen Neary (AIRA), Christy Gray (VA), Brittany Gyer (AIRA). From left to right (back row): Steve Murchie (Envision), Rebecca Coyle (AIRA), Mandy Harris (NV), Nathalie Hartert (TN), Aaron Bieringer (MN).

 Measurement and Improvement Update

AIRA Board Approvals! AIRA and MACAW (the Measurement for Assessment and Certification Advisory Workgroup) are excited to announce approvals from the AIRA board. The board has approved Incoming/Ongoing Data Assessment Measures and Tests, Clinical Decision Support (CDS) Assessment threshold update, and CDS basic and complete validation levels. Thank you to all who provided comments. More details about all three of these updates can be found in the links to the documents below:

Need help? AIRA’s technical assistance team is ready to assist you in understanding your AART dashboard and results, in prioritizing work, and in supporting your movement toward better alignment with standards. Do not hesitate to contact us for technical assistance. We can quickly answer a question or dive deeper into topics, such as assisting you and your IIS technical development team to better understand issues and make plans to more fully align with standards. Fill out a Technical Assistance Request or contact Kristi Siahaya at [email protected] for more information.

Save the Date: March Education Steering Committee Webinar

The AIRA Education Steering Committee is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, March 10 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET to highlight how IIS programs made the leap from collecting and maintaining their data to actively using their data. Speakers from AIRA, CDC, and IIS programs will address topics surrounding data quality, data use, and increasing confidence in your data. You can register for the webinar here. The webinar information can also be found on the AIRA website. We hope you will be able to join us.

HIMSS20 Canceled 

Many of you may have heard about upcoming sessions AIRA was planning to be involved in at HIMSS20. The HIMSS20 Conference has been canceled due to COVID19. This is an excerpt from the HIMSS official statement:

Today, following recent reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HIMSS announced it is clearly necessary to cancel the 2020 HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition.

“We recognize all the hard work that so many have put into preparing for their presentations and panels that accompany every HIMSS conference,” said Hal Wolf, president and CEO of HIMSS. “Based on evaluation of evolving circumstances and coordination with an external advisory panel of medical professionals to support evidence-based decision making, it is clear that it would be an unacceptable risk to bring so many thousands of people together in Orlando next week.”

HIMSS20 exhibitors and attendees will be contacted with further information regarding booth contracts and registrations. Please contact [email protected] for immediate booth concerns. Any further updates regarding HIMSS20 will be published on himssconference.org.

AIRA Standards Team Meeting

The AIRA Standards Team met February 10–11, 2020, in Portland, Oregon, to map out their detailed approach to the remaining content areas in Measurement and Improvement. For each of the planned (and some new) content areas, the team discussed:

  • What sub-content areas fell under each content area?
  • What resources/standards are available to build measures?
    • If standards don’t exist, what is our next step in the process?
  • How feasible is it to measure this area?
  • What is the anticipated level of effort of measurement?
  • What is the perceived value of measurement to our members and partners?

The team will be developing a strategy document that summarizes the outcomes and plans for moving forward. However, the meeting helped to clarify immediate priorities. New list of upcoming content areas:

  • Vaccine Code Sets
  • Provider participation
  • Vaccine deduplication
  • Patient deduplication (project, not measurement)

These projects will be prioritized in the upcoming Cooperative Agreement year. They will be rolled out, as time and resources allow, as we continue Measurement and Improvement with the current content areas of transport, submission and acknowledgment, query and response, clinical decision support, data quality: incoming/ongoing, and data quality: data at rest.

Recent Information Requests Added to the AIRA Repository

No Information Requests were sent out in the month of February. Past Information Requests can be found by using the “Information Requests” filter in the AIRA repository. 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].

Steering Committee Updates: February Recap

Assessment Steering Committee

  • The ASC meets on a quarterly basis. The meeting that was on Tuesday, March 3 will be reported on next month.

Education Steering Committee

  • The Education Steering Committee met on February 19, and CDC and the Public Health Informatics Institute  provided information on their upcoming work. 
  • The committee also reviewed upcoming activities listed in the 2020 Education Plan as well as the plans for the next three webinars.
  • Please register for the upcoming ESC webinar on Tuesday, March 10 at 2 p.m. ET: I Love My Data: Tips for Learning to Love Your Data Even More.
  • Planning for the AIRA 2020 National Meeting continues. The award nomination deadline is Sunday, March 29. Don’t forget to register and book your hotel room today for the AIRA National Meeting. The room block deadline is Monday, July 13 or until the block is full.
Standards & Interoperability Steering Committee
  • The Standards and Interoperability Steering Committee (SISC) met on February 12 and reviewed the Draft 2020–2025 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan.
  • The committee received an update on the evaluation of the Functional Guide Volume 1: Query and Response.
  • The SISC discussed the Immunization Integration Program (IIP) Collaborative with HIMSS.
  • The committee also discussed the IZ Gateway Connect project: Multi-jurisdictional Provider Organization to Multiple IIS.
MIROW Steering Committee
  • Between illnesses and scheduling conflicts, there were very few members on the February Modeling of Immunization Registry Operations Workgroup (MIROW) Steering Committee (SC) call on February 13, and the group decided to cancel the remainder of the call.
  • The MIROW SC is in the process of selecting the next topic for a MIROW guide.
  • The MIROW SC will be submitting an abstract for an interactive workshop on business continuity at the AIRA National Meeting. 

NOTE: Steering Committee minutes will capture only action items and decisions made. Recordings of the meetings can be obtained directly upon request by emailing [email protected].