5 minute read

DECEMBER 11, 2024

AIRA is a partner in planning the Public Health Data Modernization Preconference Forum at HIMSS25. This is an opportunity for the public health, health care, and IT supplier communities to learn and share strategies for modernizing public health data systems. The half-day forum will feature informative presentations and interactive discussions about data modernization efforts that impact public health, health care, and supporting market supplier communities. You’ll have opportunities to learn, network, and discuss the priorities set by the public and private sectors on the rapidly evolving public health data modernization landscape. Take a look at some of the insights from last year’s Public Health Forum in this video and report.

After the forum, stay for HIMSS25, where thousands of professionals from across the globe will connect for education, innovation, and collaboration. The full conference and exhibition include numerous opportunities for public health learning and networking. Find public health sessions here and keyword search “public health.”

Space is limited. Learn more and register today!

AIRA members receive a discount on conference registration. Select American Immunization Registry Association as a HIMSS Collaborating Organization and use the code GC25AIRA during registration. We hope to see you there!

Register and book your hotel room!

Registration for the AIRA 2025 National Meeting is open, and you can now also reserve your hotel room. This year’s National Meeting will be held at the Davenport Grand Hotel, 333 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, WA 99201, just steps from Riverfront Park and downtown attractions. 

This year’s meeting kicks off a day early with an exciting opening plenary, inspiring workshops, and a lively networking reception on Monday. Don’t miss this perfect blend of IIS, scenic views and vibrant city charm. We can’t wait to welcome you to Spokane! 🌲

AIRA members can submit and review information requests—a circulation of questions to and answers from the community. To submit an information request to the IIS community, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with “Information Request” in the subject line.

Information requests are viewable only by individual members and individuals affiliated with member and partner organizations. Recent information requests can be found by using the “Information Requests” filter in the AIRA Repository. Just log in to view these valuable resources! If you have any questions, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The Board Spotlight provides both AIRA staff and the IIS community the opportunity to learn a little about each AIRA Board member. This month, we are getting to know Kim Gulliver, Manager of the Colorado Immunization Information System (CIIS). Stay tuned for next month’s feature!

If you had a time machine, would you choose to travel to the past or to the future? Why?

I’d travel to the past. Even though I work in a technical field and modernization is the norm, I really like more simplicity, and I’m still “old school” in some of my behaviors.

What’s one thing on your bucket list that you haven’t done yet?

I have a goal of visiting all US states, US National Parks, and as many countries as I can. I am making good progress but still have work to do to achieve this goal. I have visited 96% of US States, 73% of US National Parks, and 22 countries (on 4 different continents).

If you could eat only one cuisine for the rest of your life, what would it be?

I would eat seafood for the rest of my life, and I love most types of seafood. My family likes to go on cruises, and I eat seafood almost daily and often multiple times a day while cruising because of the variety and amount offered.

If you had the option to live to 90 and retain either the mind or the body of a 30-year-old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you choose?

I would want to retain the mind of a 30-year-old. I can do things to slow my body and mind from declining, but I feel I can do more physically by ensuring I stay active. I would love to remain mentally strong until the end, just like most of my family members.

What’s one key takeaway you’ve gained from participating in an AIRA workgroup or committee?

Most of the Colorado Interoperability Team has taken the training course offered by AIRA’s Onboarding Shared Services group, and we participated in an individualized project with them. This group helped our team as we were transitioning to a new HL7 engine and sunsetting a number of our old processes/tools. They helped guide us through the development of a new onboarding process and helped us evaluate our ability to look at data in a new way. Their insight was extremely helpful!

What’s your favorite part of being on the AIRA Board? For those who are newer to the Board, what has been a highlight or something that has stood out to you so far?

I am new to the AIRA Board, and I have accessed and used many resources that AIRA has available. As a member of the Board, I am seeing this work from a different perspective, and I’ve already learned so much. I look forward to continuing to learn about AIRA and everything they provide to the IIS community.

Are there any new initiatives or projects your organization is currently working on that you’d be willing to share?

Colorado passed HB22-1157 in 2022, which focuses on collecting public health information from data sources and data provided to the department, including information concerning race, ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). To support this bill, Colorado is working with its IIS vendor to incorporate functionality to collect SOGI (Nevada supported the initial project to incorporate this functionality), disability, and enhanced race/ethnicity data.

Do you have any insights, advice, or words of encouragement you would like to offer to the IIS community?

I have worked in the IIS community for over 18 years, and it is really amazing to see how far we’ve come as a community during this time. I remember the days when we had to actively recruit and explain the benefits to partners before they enrolled and began using the IIS. During this time, most data was entered manually or through batch submissions. We have made outstanding progress, and with this progress we are required to continually change and learn. I would encourage others to embrace this change and continue working to enhance their IIS knowledge.

As a reminder, AIRA’s license has been upgraded from the legacy Standard Edition of the US Address Verification service to the Core Edition of the US Address Verification service. This transition to the Core Edition provides additional benefits, including enhanced matching and access to 20 million non-USPS addresses. Non-postal addresses are locations where people live and work. These addresses are places where USPS does not deliver mail but where packages can be delivered.

While the license has been upgraded, not all Smarty users will be impacted. The only Smarty users who MUST make a code change are the ones who are specifying the following license value in the HTTP request: us-standard-cloud. If you are currently specifying a license value, then you will need to change license value to be: us-core-enterprise-cloud. If you are not specifying a license value, then no change is necessary. If you would like to take advantage of the enhanced functionality, then need to update to include “match=enhanced.”

Please note that Smarty will continue to support the legacy license until January 31, 2025. After January 31, users will receive a “payment error” if they continue to call the legacy API.

Please contact Tesha Lucas with any questions or concerns at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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