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In This Issue…
- AIRA's COVID-19 Response Update
- Welcome New Staff to AIRA
- Need Epi or Data Visualization Support?
- Wanted: SmartyStreets User Group Presenters
- Updated SmartyStreets Survey Rolls Out in April
- AIRA Board Corner: Miriam Muscoplat, Director
- Information Requests
- Committee and Workgroup Updates: March Recap
- AIRA Job Opportunities
- In the News - March 2021
Check Out the AIRA Events Calendar for Upcoming…
AIRA's COVID-19 Response Update
Greetings,
Welcome to spring 2021! This month marked a full year since we held our last AIRA in-person regional workshop and COVID-19 changed our world. March 2021 kicked off with the Emergency Use Authorization of another COVID-19 vaccine furthering the ability to expand vaccination offerings across the country.
In the last month, AIRA remained focused on supporting COVID-19 vaccination data quality efforts; advancing the role of the Immunization (IZ) Gateway; and collaborating with national partners on solutions, strategies, and advocacy to address vaccination response challenges. These efforts are also helping to lay the groundwork for the future of our national immunization infrastructure to support the vaccination of all age groups in diverse vaccination scenarios and settings.
Additionally, we continued to work on core programming and routine immunization initiatives. Our senior management team carved out strategic planning time to focus on how AIRA can support IIS to be best positioned moving forward in a rapidly evolving health IT environment, including a world where vaccine passports could become a new norm.
We recently updated our AIRA’s Response to COVID-19 webpage, adding some resources and webinars, including our March 22 Discovery Session on COVID-19 hot topics, such as race and ethnicity data quality.
We are amazed at how much you all continue to accomplish on the ground. Happy spring!
Rebecca Coyle, MSEd
Executive Director
Welcome New Staff to AIRA
We are very excited to introduce two new AIRA staff members!
Andrea Elizalde joined AIRA in March 2021 as the Administrative Assistant to the Business and Operations Team. Prior to coming to AIRA, she worked in various roles in the health care and retail industries. She has over nine years of experience in administrative and coordinator roles. Her experience includes scheduling, financials, customer service, and human resources.
Lisa Hansen joined AIRA in March 2021 as the Business and Grants Manager. Prior to coming to AIRA, she worked as the Director of Finance and Data Infrastructure for a small collective impact nonprofit for over five years. Before that, she worked for Saint Paul & Minnesota Community Foundation managing grantmaking processes, and she began her work in the immunization community at Pierce County Public Health in Wisconsin. Lisa has multifaceted experience in operational/program evaluation and measurement, project management, data analysis/infrastructure, and health care business/records management.
Need Epi or Data Visualization Support?
Could your jurisdiction benefit from additional epidemiological or data visualization support? AIRA’s Epidemiologist/Data Analyst, Taylor Payne, is available to help! Taylor started at AIRA in November. She has experience with IIS coverage rate analysis, creating data quality reports and visualizing data in Tableau, and she ran the Immunization Quality Improvement for Providers program in Tennessee.
Taylor is offering office hours twice a week and is also available by appointment.
Office Hours:
- Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET
- Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET
If there is a data set we can help you analyze and visualize, and to set up an appointment, contact Taylor at [email protected] or (202) 975-0305.
Wanted: SmartyStreets User Group Presenters
The SmartyStreets User Group meets quarterly and is a forum that brings together various members from the IIS community who have implemented and use SmartyStreets or who are interested in adopting it. The user group is looking for IIS staff who are willing to present at one of the upcoming 2021 meetings in May, September, and November. Presenters can share their SmartyStreets success stories or talk about how SmartyStreets has been integrated into their operations. If you are interested in presenting at one of our upcoming meetings, please contact Tesha Lucas.
Updated SmartyStreets Survey Rolls Out in April
The updated SmartyStreets Monthly Usage Data survey (formerly known as the Joint Development and Implementation [JDI] Address Cleansing Aggregate Data survey) will be launched in April 2021. The survey has been streamlined to make it easier to report SmartyStreets data. Jurisdictions with a Partner Agreement are highly encouraged to complete the short, three-minute survey. Your feedback helps us capture key data and evaluate the success of SmartyStreets implementation. Please contact Tesha Lucas if you have questions about the monthly survey.
AIRA Board Corner: Miriam Muscoplat, Director
Name: Miriam Muscoplat
Title: Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC) Manager, MIIC Operations Supervisor
What do I do: I am the MIIC data steward and policy lead, and I supervise MIIC operations.
Organization’s name: Minnesota Department of Health
Role on the AIRA board: Director
What do you like most about being on the AIRA board? I appreciate the opportunity to be part of the larger IIS community and to team up with partners in jurisdictions I don’t often get to work with.
What excites you most about the IIS community? I love collaboration, and the IIS community is so eager to share ideas and collaborate on projects, analyses, and technical solutions.
What is one go-to resource you use to support your IIS work? I use the AIRA repository all the time. There is so much information available at your fingertips in the repository!
What is your favorite recent movie, book, or podcast and why? I recently listened to Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby. This book is full of insight into so many of life’s small things and truly made me laugh out loud many times. Highly recommend.
What song would you play to get pumped up? My 8-year-old daughter and I love listening to Hamilton. We always end up singing at the top of our lungs.
What is your motto? “Don’t overthink.” I’m still working on actually applying it to myself.
What’s your favorite vacation spot? Washington, D.C. I love museums and have spent days exploring all that D.C. has to offer.
Information Requests
AIRA members can submit and review information requests—a circulation of questions to and answers from the community. Recent information requests on the topics below can be found by using the “Information Requests” filter in the AIRA repository.
- Data Requests
- IIS and Undocumented Immigrants
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: March Recap
HL7 Immunization User Group
- The HL7 Immunization User Group met on March 11.
- The user group received an update on the March 10 Standards and Interoperability Steering Committee (SISC) meeting.
- The user group also saw a presentation on Technical Assistance.
- The next user group meeting is April 8 from 2 to 3 p.m. ET.
MACAW
- The Measurement for Assessment and Certification Advisory Workgroup (MACAW) met on March 11 and discussed Clinical Decision Support (CDS) validation reports.
- The workgroup was given an update on National Drug Code (NDC) measures.
- The workgroup went over provider participation aspects that will be covered and voted on at the virtual in-person annual meeting on May 5 and 6.
Standards and Interoperability Steering Committee
- The SISC met on March 10 and received an update on COVID-19 codes.
- The committee discussed United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI) v2 that is currently available for comment.
- The committee also had Thom Sukalac cover the Privacy Preserving Record Linkage (PPRL).
- The committee was updated on Small Groups Error Codes as well.
- The next committee meeting is April 14 from 1 to 2 p.m. ET.
Tableau User Group
- The Tableau User Group (TUG) met on March 23.
- Ethan Hawkins, Denver Public Health, shared Denver’s COVID-19 Dashboard during a workshop group activity.
- Members were polled on availability for upcoming Tableau trainings and willingness to share visualization of works in progress during future TUG meetings.
- There was a demo on how to access the TUG web page and behind-the-scenes user group information.
- The next user group meeting is Tuesday, April 27 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 - March 2021
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