From the Journals

Immunization information systems show progress over recent years

Publish date: November 7, 2017

FROM MMWR

From 2013 to 2016, all U.S. immunization information systems showed progress in bidirectional information exchange with EHRs, said Neil Murthy, MD, and his associates at the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta.

Across all 55 jurisdictions in 49 states and six cities in the United States using immunization information systems (IIS), 106% of U.S. births were registered in IIS in 2016, which is an increase from 102% in 2013; percentages may exceed 100%, because a child who is born in one state but who lives in a different state might be recorded in both IISs.

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Of the 55 jurisdictions, 33 (60%) reported that 95% or more of children aged 4 months to 5 years living in their geographic area were registered in their IIS in 2016, compared with 24 (44%) in 2013. Participation by providers in 2016 was 85% of the Vaccines for Children (VFC) sites enrolled in an IIS. The number of VFC provider sites participating in an IIS increased from 33,266 in 2013 to 34,662 in 2016.

Bidirectional exchange of data with EHRs is an important part of an IIS. In 2016, 91% of jurisdictions had an IIS that used a platform-independent messaging system that received vaccination histories from providers and returned acknowledgment messages, compared with 87% in 2013, the investigators said.

“Clinical Decision Support (CDS) functionalities enable providers to evaluate the validity of vaccine doses administered to patients and forecast future vaccines that will be needed, based on recommendations developed by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices,” Dr. Murthy and his associates said. In 2016, 58% of the 55 jurisdictions sent a vaccine forecast to another system, compared with 31% in 2013.

In 2016, 89% of 55 IIS jurisdictions gave a “predefined, automatic report on immunization coverage by geography,” compared with 80% in 2013. In 2016, 95% of the 55 jurisdictions gave a “predefined, automatic report on immunization coverage by provider site,” compared with 89% of jurisdictions in 2013.

“IISs are integral components of routine clinical practice and public health surveillance for immunization,” Dr. Murthy and his associates said. “Availability of more complete IIS data also offers many benefits to health care providers and public health practitioners, including consolidating patients’ vaccination histories, identifying undervaccinated subgroups, and forecasting the needs of individual patients for recommended vaccines.”

Read more in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (2017 Nov 3;66[43]:1178-81).

Immunization information systems show progress over recent years

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