Immunization Integration Program

The Immunization Integration Program (IIP) strives to improve the way immunization data is shared, managed, and used to promote public health. The IIP is a partnership between AIRA, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), and Drummond Group, in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

The IIP aims to improve interoperability between immunization data exchange partners by bringing together:

• Public Health Immunization Information System (IIS) Managers and Immunization Program Managers
• Health Information Technology (IT) Developers (e.g., electronic health records [EHRs], pharmacy health IT)
• IIS Technology Partners
• Clinicians
• Health Information Exchanges (HIEs)
• Other Key Collaborators

Seamless, accurate, and compliant exchange of immunization information will help health care providers and public health leaders improve outcomes, lower costs, and create more robust vaccination programs.

The IIP advances its goals through two initiatives:

1. Testing and Recognition – This initiative helps EHRs adopt and confirm immunization-related capabilities, allowing EHRs and IIS to share high-quality information clinicians need to make important immunization decisions.
2. Collaborative – This initiative brings all IIP partners together to develop and implement innovative solutions that improve interoperability and immunization information sharing.

Testing and Recognition

The IIP Testing and Recognition initiative helps EHRs validate their immunization-focused capabilities and acknowledges their ability to exchange immunization data. This program is approved by the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy (ASTP)/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) as an alternative method to achieve (f)(1) Transmission to immunization registries certification. Testing and recognition are offered at no-cost to the participating vendor.

EHRs must demonstrate immunization capabilities to achieve IIP recognition. Components include:

• Registering and identifying patients
• Managing cohorts
• Managing adverse events
• Managing external query, response, and reconciliation
• Administering and reporting immunization
• Providing patient access
• Managing information for clinical decision making
• Managing inventory

Testing will help EHRs learn whether their products meet ASTP/ONC and IIP requirements. Clinicians can also use this information to have more informed discussions with EHRs and evaluate their solutions.

Benefits of Testing and Recognition

Participating in IIP Testing and Recognition will help EHR developers learn about immunization capabilities that will improve interoperability with IIS and help them confirm their product’s ability to successfully exchange immunization data.

Continue learning about the IIP Testing and Recognition initiative. Get an overview of testing requirements, download the IIP test plan, apply to participate.

Collaborative

By giving key partners a seat at the table, the IIP Collaborative offers a forum to help increase awareness of interoperability challenges, identify priority areas, create solutions to meet the most pressing needs, and encourage adoption of solutions that can make the biggest impact.

Through sourcing real-world issues from across the immunization ecosystem, we partner with the CDC to screen and scope projects that maximize impact. The IIP Executive Council then prioritizes these challenges based on critical factors such as patient safety, data quality, and public health outcomes. This collaborative process helps the CDC’s Informatics and Data Analytics Branch (IDAB) select the highest-priority issues to tackle. Once a focus is set, our diverse partners develop and implement innovative solutions to streamline information sharing.

Please contact us at [email protected] for more information.

Solutions:

• IIP Collaborative Transport Recommendations
• Acknowledgment Messages
• Foundational Guidance for Minimum Functionality to Improve Visibility and Access to Information from Acknowledgment Messages
• AIRA Discovery Session: Data Quality Improvement Success Story: Collaborating through the Immunization Integration Program 6/28/21 (webinar)
• The Immunization Integration Program & Pipeline Approach: The ACK Journey 4/26/22 (webinar)
• IIP Collaborative Patient Matching Brief
• Data Validation
  • Top Five Strategies for Improving Immunization Data Quality at the Point of Care
  • Training Resources for Vaccine Data Entry Users
  • Data Entry Error Guide Template
• Multiple Patients Matched in a Query to IIS
  • Immunization Query Response Aggregate Measures for Multiple Matches Report 
  • Immunization Query Response Workflow Functionalities Catalog 
• Bulk Query
  • Bulk Query Toolkit 
  • IIS Bulk Query Discussion with HIMSS-AIRA IIP 4/26/22 (webinar)
• IIP Collaborative Patient Matching Brief

Continue learning about the IIP Collaborative

Benefits of the IIP

Improving interoperability between IIS and EHRs brings real-world benefits to our partners in health care and public health.

• Clinicians are able to provide the right immunization for the right patient at the right time.
• IIS and immunization program managers have the data they need to monitor and improve immunization rates and inform public health programs.
• EHRs and other health IT developers improve information sharing with IIS and achieve higher levels of data quality and standardization.
• HIEs are able to offer robust immunization-related services to their members by leveraging existing connections and inherent functionalities.
• IIS technology partners will know more about IIP participants’ pain points and CDC recommendations.

Continue Learning About the IIP

• Meet IIP leaders, learn how to get involved, and see upcoming events.
• Learn more about the IIP’s history and read frequently asked questions.