BACKGROUND:
As a regional registry the Houston/Harris County Immunization Registry (HHCIR) has been faced with the same issues that challenge statewide registries but have had to find innovative solutions for funding and leadership. The efforts leading to success have been the result of a unique partnership between the public and private sector that include the city public health department, a large hospital and a university.

OBJECTIVE:
Discuss the history of the HHCIR to include need for development of a regional registry in Texas, the partnering effort that made it possible and some of the challenges that were solved. These challenges include opt-in legislative requirements, technical solutions to manage consent, and the recruitment of providers.

METHOD:
The HHCIR partnership has included staff from both the Houston City Health Department and the Texas Children's Hospital to provide leadership, registry operations, provider recruitment/training and data hosting. Baylor College of Medicine provided application development and support/maintenance is contracted. A provider recruitment campaign has resulted in continued development for HL7 data exchange functionality between the provider systems and the HHCIR.

RESULT:
Regional registries can be successful but the need for innovative solutions and partnerships are high.

CONCLUSION:
The HHCIR has succeeded by overcoming technical challenges for management of consent, focusing on provider recruitment and the use of HL7 enabled data sharing technology to reduce provider data submission costs. The public/private partnership has been a key to this success.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Technical solutions for consent management.
Partnering for registry leadership and implementation.
Challenges for regional registries.