KEYWORDS:
Florida State Health Online Tracking System (SHOTS); Operation Vaccinate Florida Stage I (OVF I), smallpox.
BACKGROUND:
In support of President Bush’s efforts to immunize smallpox response teams as a bio-terrorist pre-event strategy, Florida began Operation Vaccinate Florida (OVF I) February 10, 2003. The existing immunization registry, the Florida State Health Online Tracking System (SHOTS) was modified to allow for the collection of smallpox patient data. The system was certified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for data upload to the Pre-Event Vaccination System. A total of 3,556 individuals were vaccinated over the course of 68 days ending April 18. Data was collected and Operation Vaccinate Florida was evaluated utilizing data reported to the Florida SHOTS system.
OBJECTIVE:
To present the effectiveness of utilizing existing IT infrastructure such as immunization registries to rapidly deploy data collection methods for bio-terrorism initiatives involving vaccination.
METHOD:
An analysis was performed to add additional functionality to collect smallpox data within the statewide immunization registry. Contractual staff developed the new functionality which was complete within two weeks. The software changes were installed in 67 county health departments for full operation at the beginning of the Operation Vaccinate Florida effort.
RESULT:
The existing statewide immunization registry in Florida was utilized to rapidly implement and deploy data collection for Operation Vaccinate Florida.
CONCLUSION:
Implementing changes in Florida’s statewide immunization registry was an efficient mechanism for the collection and data analysis for the smallpox pre-event plan and eliminated the need for dual data entry.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Understand the usefulness of statewide immunization registries in pre-event strategies against potential bio-terrorist threats involving vaccine-preventable diseases.
Back to Episode I: The Range of Registry Roles in Pre-Event Vaccination for Smallpox
Back to The 2003 Immunization Registry Conference (October 27-29, 2003)