Development and utilization of best practice operational guidelines for immunization information systems.

OBJECTIVE: To describe collaborative efforts to develop best practice operational guidelines for immunization information systems (IIS) and discuss awareness- acceptance- and utilization of the guidelines by the IIS community. DESIGN: Business analysis and facilitation techniques were used to support collaboration among IIS stakeholders who analyzed existing practices- brainstormed new approaches- and developed consensus-based recommendations. The guideline development process and its impact on IIS were evaluated using a postworkshop questionnaire- the IIS Annual Report- and an online survey for one of the guidelines. SETTING: Immunization information systems domain in the United States. PARTICIPANTS: Staff from IIS/ federal agencies/ state- regional- and county health departments/ privately run registries/ and vendors/consultants. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): These included (1) completion of best practice guidelines/ (2) degree of satisfaction among the participating IIS stakeholders with the work process and ou