Executive Director's Update
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Greetings,
Spring is here, and as it takes hold, it has been nice to embrace a lull in the pandemic and return to activities that feel like they are from a pre-pandemic era, such as some work meetings and opportunities to connect with some of you in person.
Speaking of opportunities to connect, don’t forget to register for the virtual #AIRA2022 National Meeting on April 26 and 27. The meeting agenda, along with other helpful information, is available on the National Meeting website. You can also visit the website to find information on the #AIRA2022 keynote speaker, Dr. David A. Ross, ScD, chief executive officer and president of The Task Force for Global Health. We’re excited to showcase a panel presentation this year on data modernization that will feature Lynn Gibbs-Scharf and Daniel Jernigan from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Micky Tripathi, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. These dynamic presenters will be speaking about what modern data systems look like, work their organizations are doing to advance the modernization of data systems, and more. Find more information on the National Meeting in the article below.
In addition to spring, it’s also public comment season. There have been several opportunities for the IIS community to give input on important initiatives that impact our work. Below are upcoming comment opportunities and comments we have recently provided:
- The Office of the National Coordinator is seeking comments on the data classes and elements that should be included in the final United States Core Data for Interoperability Draft Version 3. The public comment period is open now until April 30, 2022. Your jurisdiction can submit comments on the HealthIT.gov website. Also, AIRA’s Standards and Interoperability Steering Committee is collecting comments on the 2022 Interoperability Standards Advisory Reference Edition and will submit them collectively, but we encourage jurisdictions to submit comments as well. The public comment period closes on May 2, 2022. Your jurisdiction can submit comments on the HealthIT.gov website.
- In early March, AIRA submitted comments on behalf of our members to the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) on its updates to the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) Adult Immunization Measure. AIRA’s comments were in support of proposed updates to the pneumococcal indicator, retirement of Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems self-report measures, and expansion of race and ethnicity stratification in HEDIS. You can read AIRA’s comments in the AIRA repository.
- And finally, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP) drafted the Vaccines Federal Implementation Plan 2021–2025 as a companion document to the Vaccines National Strategic Plan 2021–2025. The OIDP invited stakeholders to submit public comments before finalizing the implementation plan. AIRA drafted comments and got input on them from our members and the IIS community and submitted final comments on March 29. You can read the comments that were submitted in the AIRA repository.
In other news, the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) is developing recommendations to increase vaccination coverage. MACPAC has requested AIRA’s review of its recommendations from a technical perspective. The recommendations are expected to be released in April or May.
In early March, AIRA and some of our national partners participated on a panel contracted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS is interested in moving away from the attestation measure in promoting interoperability to more of a data-driven approach of quantifying the amount of data exchanged through the electronic health record-IIS interface. CMS has identified some draft measures, including how to measure if a provider is using the IIS in a meaningful way. It has started by looking at how to quantify the number of doses successfully reported to an IIS. There is still much to be determined, including timeframe, inclusion/exclusion criteria, and thresholds that provider sites would need to meet. The panel also discussed the idea of introducing a measure for query. More conversation needs to happen about what base population is being measured against, but there was significant openness across the group to explore both submissions and queries and emphasize the bidirectional nature of IIS exchange. We’ll keep the community updated as this moves forward.
AIRA participated in a number of events at the HIMSS22 Global Health Conference & Exhibition in mid-March, including an AIRA networking session, the HIMSS interoperability showcase, an Immunization Integration Program presentation, and a panel presentation on SMART Health Cards. The conference was a great opportunity for us to communicate the work we’re doing and to connect with our health IT partners.
The entire AIRA team looks forward to seeing you virtually later this month at the #AIRA2022 National Meeting!
Rebecca Coyle, MSEd
Executive Director
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The virtual #AIRA202 National Meeting is less than a month away on April 26 and 27! If you haven’t already registered, there’s still time. General registration closes on April 22, so register today!
We’ve been busy putting together the virtual meeting agenda, which is available now. Check out the agenda page to peruse the exciting presentations and speakers we have lined up for you this year. Stay tuned for more information about the meeting platform where you’ll be able to read more about presentations and speakers, add sessions to your schedule, and connect with other attendees.
One such speaker includes our #AIRA2022 keynote, Dr. Dave Ross, ScD, chief executive officer (CEO) and president of The Task Force for Global Health. Dr. Ross is a recognized leader in global health and one of the pioneers of public health informatics. He has led collaborative programs to strengthen information capacity of public health systems in the United States and other countries for more than three decades. Dr. Ross has served as CEO and president for The Task Force for Global Health since 2016. Prior to that, he spent 16 years as director of The Task Force’s Public Health Informatics Institute and its predecessor, All Kids Count. In addition to his nonprofit experience, he has worked in the public and private sectors on both health care delivery and medical informatics and has worked in various roles with the US Public Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We’re excited Dr. Ross can join us at #AIRA2022! His depth of knowledge is invaluable, and we look forward to hearing his perspective.
The National Meeting wouldn’t be possible without our Supporting Members. Learn more about the #AIRA2022 Diamond Supporting Members below.
If you have any questions or want more information about the National Meeting, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We can’t wait to see you virtually later this month!
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Save the Date: AIM Leadership in Action 2022 Conference
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Measurement and Improvement Updates
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Data Quality Incoming/Ongoing Validation reports coming soon!
AIRA and members of the Measurement for Assessment and Certification Advisory Workgroup (MACAW) are excited to share that Data Quality Incoming/Ongoing (DQI) Validation will be available in late April in the Aggregate Analysis Reporting Tool (AART). Basic Validation for DQI includes detecting poor data quality for essential patient demographic and vaccination event data elements plus the ability to map coding systems and accurate return of immunization history. The Complete Level of Validation for DQI includes the concepts from Basic Validation and additionally assesses the ability of IIS to map coding systems and return accurate immunization histories.
Data Quality Incoming/Ongoing Validation
AIRA and MACAW generally assume that IIS connecting with the Measurement and Improvement (M&I) Initiative through AART have a desire to broadly participate in DQI Validation by being measured and sharing results unless an IIS states otherwise. AART defaults to inclusion in measurement and sharing but provides control to Admin users to set sharing settings as they choose. Admin users are encouraged to confirm their measurement and sharing settings by logging in to AART and clicking on “Settings” in the lower left-hand corner as show in the image below.
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Using SmartyList (aka Command-Line Interface) for Address Cleansing
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Do you need the ability to execute bulk validation without technology development? Then SmartyList, also known as the Command-Line Interface (CLI), is an option for your IIS. The software can be downloaded from the Smarty website. With the ability to process any size list, SmartyList standardizes and validates addresses while returning various metadata. After execution, the output file is returned to your computer. Best of all, SmartyList processes address lists at lightning-fast speeds.
SmartyList can be used for cleansing an entire IIS database, spot cleansing of non-routine batches after the initial cleansing, or as needed.
Want to learn more about Smarty and options for connecting to the service? We’re here to help! For information about address cleansing and geocoding, visit the Address Cleansing Service page on the AIRA website or contact Tesha Lucas.
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#AIRA2022 Diamond Supporting Members
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Supporting Members are valuable supporters of AIRA’s ongoing efforts to promote the development, implementation, and interoperability of IIS. We sincerely thank all our Supporting Members for their involvement and continued support. We are pleased to share with you this year’s Diamond Supporting Members.
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Envision For more than 20 years, Envision Technology Partners has been working with federal, state, and local government agencies on development, support, and evolution of information systems within public health. Our flagship product, WebIZ, is recognized as a leading immunization information system application. Today, our growing organization continues to develop new enhancements and modern products with thoughtful selection of technologies to improve productivity and data for public health organizations while maximizing IT investments and driving down cost of ownership. We are proud to sponsor AIRA and support the entire immunization community.
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Gainwell Gainwell is the leading provider of technology, services, and solutions that are vital to the administration and operations of health and human services programs. With more than 50 years of proven experience, Gainwell has a reputation for service excellence and unparalleled industry expertise. We offer clients scalable and flexible solutions for their most complex challenges. These capabilities make us a trusted partner for organizations seeking reliability, innovation, and transformational outcomes.
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Johnson & Johnson Through science and innovation, Janssen Infectious Diseases & Vaccines aims to deliver solutions to prevent, treat, and cure infectious diseases. Our efforts are focused on tackling the most complex infectious diseases, finding the right paths of intervention, and making sure they reach those in need. We have an ambitious goal—to ensure a future where we can prevent the spread of infectious diseases and eliminate the burden they place on global health.
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VCI VCI is a voluntary coalition of public and private organizations committed to verifiable clinical information and empowering individuals to access and use their own health data. VCI members worked together to develop the SMART Health Cards Framework—an open-source standard—to give people a free, trustworthy, and convenient way to easily store and share their medical records. In the 16 months since inception, VCI has grown to include more than 900 member organizations, with nearly 500 SMART Health Cards issuers worldwide. Today, over 200 million people have access, with SMART Health Cards becoming the official standard for digital vaccine certificates in countries like Canada and the de-facto standard in the United States with almost half of states already issuing. Go to vci.org for member information and to smarthealth.cards to learn more about accessing and using SMART Health Cards.
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Committee and Workgroup Updates: March Recap
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HL7 Immunization User Group
- The HL7 Immunization User Group met on March 10.
- The user group received an update about the Standards and Interoperability Steering Committee and the HL7 Innovations Workgroup.
- The user group held a community panel discussion on historical COVID-19 vaccinations.
- The user group saw a presentation on information security.
- The next user group meeting is May 12, 2022, from 2 to 3 p.m. ET.
Measurement for Assessment and Certification Advisory Workgroup (MACAW)
- MACAW met on March 10.
- The workgroup discussed Measurement and Improvement priority documentation.
- The workgroup received an update on Data at Rest progress and findings.
- The workgroup got a demo on the updated Aggregate Analysis Reporting Tool user interface.
- The next MACAW meeting is April 14, 2022, from noon to 1 p.m. ET.
Modeling of Immunization Registry Operations Workgroup (MIROW)
Standards and Interoperability Steering Committee (SISC)
- SISC met on March 9.
- Paloma Hawry, speaking on behalf of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gave an update on code sets.
- The committee received an update on the HL7 Immunization User Group and SISC small groups from Nathan Bunker.
- The committee received updates on several documents that are open for public comment.
- Craig Newman from Altarum gave an update on the Helios HL7 FHIR Accelerator for Public Health.
- The next committee meeting is April 13, 2022, from 1 to 2 p.m. ET.
Tableau User Group (TUG)
- TUG met on March 2.
- Paige Snow from the Oregon Health Authority presented data visualization tips on how to increase accessibility for the general public and make visualizations screen-reader friendly.
- The next user group meeting is May 24, 2022, 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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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