Cheryl Oliver-Knight
Delaware Immunization Program
Information Systems Support Specialist
Fred Bailey
Delaware Immunization Program
Health Program Coordinator
History of Delaware’s Immunization Registry
(Immunization Information System – IIS)
 First state to establish an IIS (early 1980’s)
 Created a new IIS in 1995 that corresponded with the
creation of the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program
 Implemented the current IIS in December of 2011
 Required participation in the IIS (patients cannot
choose to opt out and patient permission is not
required to establish an IIS record)
IIS Reporting Requirements
 Delaware Regulation 4202 – Control of Communicable
and other Disease Conditions provides the legal
ground for the Division of Public Health to establish
an immunization registry (IIS)
 Regulation requires “All physicians and other health
care providers . . .” to report the immunizations they
administer to patients in Delaware
 Regulation requires that all immunizations
administered be reported – childhood, adult, travel,
rabies (pre and post exposure), etc.
IIS Reporting Requirements cont.
 What information must be reported:
 Facility/Practice name, address and phone number
 Responsible health care provider (physician, nurse
practitioner, pharmacist, etc)
 Patient Demographics
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
Name
Date of Birth
Gender
Race
Ethnicity
Address
IIS Reporting Requirements cont.
 Vaccine Information
 Vaccine administration date
 Vaccine name (by antigen – i.e. Dtap vs. Adacel)
 Vaccine manufacturer
 Vaccine lot number
 VFC category for children under 19 years
IIS Reporting Methods
 Submission of the Division of Public Health
Immunization Reporting form
 Direct data entry from the facility into the IIS
 Electronic reporting:
 Flat file – not accepting any new facilities and will be
phasing out current users
 HL7 messaging – standard format for transmitting
health information
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World wide standard
HIPAA compliant
Meets hospital and provider requirements for meaningful use
dollars
Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN)
 DHIN is the state-sanctioned provider of health
information exchange services. The Division of Public
Health (DPH) and DHIN have created a partnership
with the intent for DHIN to be the vehicle for all
health data that must be transmitted or reported to
DPH. DHIN and the DPH have agreed upon the tools
and methods that will be used to feed required
immunization data from the hospitals and practices to
the state.
Process for Submitting HL7 messages
 Provider/EHR vendor is introduced to the DHIN. A
contract is established between DHIN and the
provider/EHR vendor.
 Provider/EHR vendor requests a facility code from the
state that will identify each medical practice in the
HL7 message
 A “kick-off” meeting with the EHR vendor/practice
that includes:
 HL7 message version – 2.3.1 or 2.5.1
 Message type – update and/or query
Process for Submitting HL7 messages cont.
 Connectivity options – web services (preferred) or SFTP
 Web services must complete DelVAX Vendor IP
Information form. (This is used to allow access through
the State of Delaware firewall.)
 If practice is a VFC Provider, the practice VFC coordinator
must be aware of additional requirements for
administrative fee claims.
 Establish EHR vendor test plan and training of practice
personnel
 Vendor test web service connection
 Vendor submits test messages (not real data)
 DPH validates message technical format
Process for Submitting HL7 messages cont.
 Vendor sends practice production data (real data)
 DPH validates the content for required fields
 DPH initiates a “move to production” meeting with Provider,
EHR and DPH.
 EHR vendor completes the State of Delaware security forms
 Supply the production URL, login and password
 Schedule “go live” date
 Practice continues to report via paper forms for two weeks
while DPH conducts quality assurance.
http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dph/dpc/immunize-providers.html
Immunization Reporting Contacts
 Immunization Program:
 Cheryl Oliver-Knight –cheryl.oliver-knight@state.de.us
 Fred Bailey – fred.bailey@state.de.us
 DHIN:
 Richard Wadman – richard.wadman@dhin.org
Questions?