Overview of the Project
Under two contracts for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), CNI Advantage, LLC (CNIADV) is developing immunization-related requirements and related testing and certification processes for electronic health records (EHRs) and other clinical software to increase vaccine coverage.
Why is This Important
Improved immunization rates have been linked to better health outcomes, reductions in health care costs, and higher levels of productivity.[1],[2],[3]
EHRs have been shown to increase the effectiveness of various interventions that improve immunization rates. EHRs and other clinical software also have the potential of improving vaccine tracking, vaccine safety, and the ease by which patients can gain access to their immunization histories.
Due to nearly $28 billion in federal health IT investments, a majority of hospitals and clinicians in the U.S. now use EHRs to improve the quality, safety, and cost of care. CDC believes that embedding immunization-related capabilities in EHRs will (1) improve immunization rates by making it easy for clinicians to administer appropriate vaccines, (2) increase knowledge and acceptance of immunizations among patients and their caregivers, and (3) improve the tracking and safety of vaccines.
How Were the Software Requirements Developed?
The initial draft immunization-related capabilities and requirements were developed based on the following:
- A literature review;
- Interviews with more than 60 individuals and organizations representing clinicians and other immunization providers, EHR and other clinical software developers, the immunization information system (IIS) community, certification and testing bodies, and others who are in a position to provide incentives for adoption of such requirements;
- Initial requirement-specific feedback and a working session involving approximately 20 stakeholders including clinicians and other immunization providers, EHR developers, the IIS community, certification and testing bodies, and CDC.
- Insights from a team of subject matter experts with expertise in clinical informatics, clinical workflow, and public health informatics.
How the Input Received From this Process Will be Used
CNIADV is now gaining additional input on the draft immunization-related capabilities and requirements through this website and through stakeholder meetings convened by collaborating non-profit organizations representing clinicians and other immunization providers, EHR and other software developers, and the IIS and public health community.
The final set of immunization-related capabilities and requirements—integrating input received through the website–will be inform the following deliverables to CDC.
- A final set of immunization-related software capabilities (including scenarios and examples) that will be published in a guidance document to support users and developers of clinical software
- Voluntary testing processes for a critical subset of the requirements that can be used to support validation of the existence of such requirements in clinical software within voluntary, market-based testing and/or certification programs
[1]Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Workplace Health Promotion: Adult Immunization. Web. 10 December 2013. http://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/implementation/topics/immunization.html
[2]Ehreth, Jennifer. “The Global Value of Vaccination.” Vaccine 30 Jan 2003: 21(7-8) 596-600.http://www.uvm.edu/~bwilcke/ehreth.pdf
[3]National Business Group on Health. Vaccinating Against the Flu: A Business Case. Web. 10 December 2013.http://www.businessgrouphealth.org/pub/f3137df6-2354-d714-5143-de37eb0ecd7c