KEYWORDS:
Contra Costa Automated Immunization Registry; CCAIR; Vaccine Adverse Event Reports; VAERS; FDA; CDC; NIP; HL7 Messages
BACKGROUND:
Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) is a passive surveillance system established for accepting reports of vaccine-induced adverse events in a paper-form format.
OBJECTIVE:
To allow providers to electronically maintain and submit VAERS reports about their patients from the Contra Costa Automated Immunization Registry (CCAIR) as recommended in CDC’s Implementation Guide for transmission of Vaccine Adverse Event Reports using HL7 Protocol.
METHOD:
A new, optional, custom screen was introduced in CCAIR to enter and maintain the data values to be reported for patients who have reported a vaccine-induced adverse reaction. The functionality to construct HL7 Observation Message (ORU), a standard HL7 Message that includes all the fields from the VAERS-1 paper-form, was also added to CCAIR. Using the data entered on the custom screen and other data from the CCAIR database, HL7 ORU Messages can be constructed. In the future, these messages can be electronically transmitted to CDC/FDA’s VAERS processing center in real-time or alternatively in a nightly batch process to allow updates to the data entered on the custom screen before submission.
RESULT:
CCAIR now has the potential for reporting more efficiently and comprehensively the adverse events associated with vaccines to the CDC/FDA with a minimum of staff time and duplication of data entry.
CONCLUSION:
With the addition of adverse-event maintenance and reporting functionality to CCAIR, VAERS report can be submitted electronically. The same functionality may possibly be extended to ePOE and EHR systems for reporting other adverse reactions such as to prescription drugs in the future.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
To understand how an existing immunization registry can electronically report vaccine-induced adverse events.
Handout (.ppt format, 159.0 kb)
Back to Connecting the Vaccine Safety Efforts and Immunization Information Systems: A Health Partnership
Back to The 2003 Immunization Registry Conference (October 27-29, 2003)