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Monthly Update

January 2021 in Review

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In This Issue…

  1. AIRA's COVID-19 Response Update
  2. Welcome New Staff to AIRA
  3. Introduction of the Immunization Infrastructure Act
  4. January ACIP Meeting
  5. Preparing for COVID-19 Vaccination: A Call to Action for Clinicians on IIS
  6. SmartyStreets Service Available to AIRA Members
  7. Information Requests
  8. Committee and Workgroup Updates: January Recap
  9. AIRA Job Opportunities
  10. In the News - January 2021

Check Out the AIRA Events Calendar for Upcoming…

AIRA's COVID-19 Response Update

Greetings,

As we wrap up our first month of 2021, I would like to wish all our members and partners a happy new year. Despite the many remaining challenges and some criticisms flooding the media, the administration of over 41 million doses (according to the CDC COVID Data Tracker) to the American population within the first 8 weeks of the COVID-19 vaccination program reflects an enormous undertaking and accomplishment and sets a foundation to advance efforts into the next phases of the campaign. The funding making its way to immunization programs after months of advocacy and the release of the National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness during week one of the Biden Administration, show commitment and a promising path forward building off of what you have already done so far in the response.

AIRA developed and is excited to launch several new offerings to support the IIS community:

In addition to our routine efforts, we continue to support jurisdictions with onboarding providers, Immunization (IZ) Gateway onboarding, and addressing data quality issues and challenges related to vaccine tracking and reporting. Some of these key challenges were discussed at our last AIRA Discovery Session: IIS Community Gathering on the COVID-19 Vaccination Response, as well as at CDC’s January 21 IIS All Awardee Forum. Please be sure to review CDC’s latest weekly IIS Info Briefs for recordings, critical updates and guidance, and schedule of weekly office hours for addressing frequently asked questions.

AIRA is actively reaching out to jurisdictions to identify ways in which we can provide the most meaningful help, but please do not hesitate to contact us with ideas for how AIRA can best support your team or the IIS community as you begin to implement the next stages of your response plans. All of us at AIRA continue to be grateful to everyone involved in this massive vaccination campaign. We hope you can attend our next AIRA Discovery Session where we’ll focus on mindfulness during this stressful time.

Thank you for your continued dedication.

Rebecca Coyle, MSEd
Executive Director

Welcome New Staff to AIRA

We are very excited to introduce four new AIRA staff members!

Jenn Combes joined AIRA in January 2021 as an assistant project manager on the Immunization (IZ) Gateway Team. Prior to coming to AIRA, Jenn worked at the Washington State Department of Health for 10 years managing contracts and budget, coordinating meetings, and working in the Washington State Immunization Information System. Her last role was as project manager and coordinator for Washington's Health Promotion System (Child Profile). Welcome, Jenn!

Jo Turcotte joined AIRA in January 2021 as membership coordinator. Prior to this role, Jo worked with two other organizations where her efforts were focused on membership, programs management, marketing, customer service, and event coordination. Welcome, Jo!

Rebecca Sandtveit joined the AIRA Standards & Analytics Team as an administrative assistant in January 2021. She has spent over 15 years supporting teams in the medical and nonprofit sectors. In addition to team planning and committee management, Rebecca’s background includes policy review, real estate and tax law, donor outreach, and public relations. Welcome, Rebecca!

Shalena Prude joined AIRA in January 2021 as a senior project manager. Prior to joining the organization, she was a product manager who defined enhancements for the road map and managed the HL7 and electronic data interchange process (EDI) for various private and public health care entities. Shalena also has over five years of experience working with local and state public health departments in electronic health records and HL7 interoperability adoption, software training, and product development. Early in her public health career, Shalena enjoyed various aspects of both community and environmental health, including working as a nutritionist for WIC State Agency and Harvesters Community Foodbank. Additionally, she conducted food safety inspections and training as a public health specialist for the Kansas City Health Department. Welcome, Shalena!

Introduction of the Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act

On January 28, US Representatives Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) and Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.) introduced the Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act. This act is an encouraging and monumental step toward modernizing IIS and expanding IIS capacity for routine and pandemic vaccination.

Congressman Bucshon said, “As the vaccine rollout continues, immunization data systems will be a critical tool in the success of this effort, and they are in need of modernization.” He continued, “This legislation will improve, enhance, and expand the ability of immunization information systems to securely exchange real-time immunization record data while securely protecting personal patient information.”

The act seeks to authorize $400 million to support the following:

  • An assessment of current information technology capabilities and gaps among immunization providers
  • Expanded enrollment and training of a wide range of immunizing providers (including settings such as pharmacies; long-term care; specialty care; community health centers; and organizations caring for adults, the homeless, and incarcerated populations)
  • Support of real-time immunization data exchange and reporting across jurisdictions
  • Improved security of bidirectional exchange of immunization data and interoperability of IIS with health IT platforms
  • Improved secure data collection, transmission of bidirectional exchange, and maintenance and analysis of immunization information
  • Support of standardization of IIS across jurisdictions

Thank you to the Adult Vaccine Access Coalition members and partners who worked tirelessly to advocate for and support the development of this bipartisan bill on top of multiple other immunization-centric bills. Please stay tuned for more information and updates in the coming weeks. We know this legislation could drastically impact the work of the entire IIS community and look forward to how AIRA can support you in these efforts as they develop.

For more information, contact Marisa Salemme (Rep. Kuster's office) or Dylan Moore (Rep. Bucshon's office).

January ACIP Meeting

On January 27, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met to discuss COVID-19 vaccines. There was not a vote to create vaccine recommendations at this meeting.

The ACIP members discussed several topics related to COVID-19 vaccines:

  • Clinical trial data for the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine (AZD1222)
  • Epidemiology of COVID-19 disease in children and pediatric COVID-19 clinical trials
  • Initial vaccine administration data
  • Additional COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness studies
  • SARS-CoV-2 variants and the potential impact on vaccine effectiveness
  • COVID-19 vaccine dosing and schedules

The next meeting is scheduled for February 24 and 25, 2021.

Preparing for COVID-19 Vaccination: A Call to Action for Clinicians on IIS

On February 2, the article, “Preparing for COVID-19 Vaccination: A Call to Action for Clinicians on Immunization Information Systems,” was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The article promotes IIS utilization among providers and highlights IIS features and their critical role in supporting the COVID-19 vaccination response.

Clinicians are central to ensuring administered vaccines are accurately and timely reported to strengthen clinical care and inform public health efforts for routine and emergency situations. The article outlines steps clinicians can take to maximize the utility of IIS and improve integration of systems supportive of the pandemic response and routine vaccination efforts.

SmartyStreets Service Available to AIRA Members

AIRA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offer SmartyStreets access to all AIRA member IIS programs at no cost. As a data quality intervention, SmartyStreets provides address validation, address standardization, and geocoding at lightning-fast speeds (average sub-30 millisecond response time).

In order to use the service, jurisdictions must sign a Partner Agreement. To date, 34 jurisdictions and one IIS vendor have signed an agreement and are licensed to use the service.

To help you get started with SmartyStreets, AIRA offers a 60-minute orientation. During the session, participants will begin thinking about how SmartyStreets will fit into their current infrastructure and will learn the options available for connecting to SmartyStreets. Every IIS is welcome to set up an orientation.

Does your IIS program have new employees who want to learn more about SmartyStreets? Contact Tesha Lucas for information or to schedule an orientation.

Information Requests

AIRA members can submit and review information requests—a circulation of questions to and answers from the IIS community. Check out the recently published Information Request regarding COVID-19 vaccine information dashboards 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].

Committee and Workgroup Updates: January Recap

HL7 Immunization User Group

  • The HL7 Immunization User Group did not meet in January.
  • The next user group meeting is February 11, 2021, at 2 p.m. ET.

MACAW

  • The Measurement for Assessment and Certification Advisory Workgroup (MACAW) met on January 21 and discussed the need for a new co-chair.
  • The workgroup was updated on the Aggregate Analysis Reporting Tool (AART) user interface redesign by Fuzzy Math.
  • MACAW reviewed the AART COVID-19 enhancement timeline and discussed reporting options.
  • An update was given on the Provider Participation content area development.
  • The next MACAW meeting is February 11, 2021, from noon to 1 p.m. ET.
  • The Modeling of Immunization Registry Operations Workgroup (MIROW) did not meet in January.
  • The committee voted to update the two MIROW guides on data quality (Data Quality Assurance in IIS: Incoming Data and Data Quality Assurance in Immunization Information Systems: Selected Aspects). The data quality subject matter experts have begun meeting to develop the updated guide.
  • MIROW started a refinement process to evaluate MIROW offerings in relation to the evolution of AIRA and the IIS community’s changing needs and determine the best way to refine and advance development and promotion of uniform operational guidelines for IIS.
  • The next MIROW meeting is February 11, 2021, from noon to 4 p.m. ET.

Standards and Interoperability Steering Committee

  • The Standards and Interoperability Steering Committee (SISC) met on January 13 and received an update on all small-group activity.
  • The committee received an overview of the Privacy Preserving Record Linkage from CDC.
  • SISC also received an overview of the Vaccine Credential Initiative.
  • The committee was updated on the current COVID-19 Vaccination Reporting Format.
  • The next committee meeting is February 10, 2021, from 1 to 2 p.m. ET.

Tableau User Group

  • The first Tableau User Group met on January 26 with more than 50 members in attendance.
  • Sydney Kuramoto presented Minnesota’s internal COVID-19 Dashboard to monitor ongoing COVID-19 vaccination data quality.
  • Jessica Jupe presented Texas’s COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard.
  • The group also discussed Tableau barriers and functionalities.
  • If you want to join the Tableau User Group, email Courtnay Londo.
  • The next user group meeting is February 23 from noon to 1 p.m. ET.
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].

AIRA Job Opportunities

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.

There are no openings at this time.

Opportunities for independent contractors

There are no opportunities at this time. To be notified of future contracting opportunities, please sign up here.

Requests for résumés

AIRA has a need to increase its organizational capacity. Positions may be temporary, full-time, part-time, or contractor. Find detailed information here. Share this information with anyone who may be interested and qualified. Send completed application packages, including an AIRA Job Application, to [email protected].

In the News - January 2021