Electronic immunization data collection systems: application of an evaluation framework.

BACKGROUND: Evaluating the features and performance of health information systems can serve to strengthen the systems themselves as well as to guide other organizations in the process of designing and implementing surveillance tools. We adapted an evaluation framework in order to assess electronic immunization data collection systems- and applied it in two Ontario public health units. METHODS: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Guidelines for Evaluating Public Health Surveillance Systems are broad in nature and serve as an organizational tool to guide the development of comprehensive evaluation materials. Based on these Guidelines- and informed by other evaluation resources and input from stakeholders in the public health community- we applied an evaluation framework to two examples of immunization data collection and examined several system attributes: simplicity- flexibility- data quality- timeliness- and acceptability. Data collection approaches included key informant interviews- logic and co