PUBLIC HEALTH SOLUTIONS

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s (NYC DOHMH’s) Bureau of Immunization (BOI) will increase interoperability between Electronic Health Records (EHR) and Immunization Information Systems (IIS) the Citywide Immunization Registry (CIR). Specifically, BOI requests will work on the following three objectives: 1) Increase the number of enhanced EHR-CIR practice-based electronic interfaces available by at least 45% 2) Increase the number of practice-based electronic immunization transactions reported to the CIR per month by at least 10% 3) Increase the number/proportion of practice-based immunization data received and recorded in the CIR within one week by 25% To accomplish this work, the CIR will complete the following tasks: 1) Hire New Staff 2) Implement HL7 2.5.1 Web Services for Standards-Based, Real Time, Bi-Directional Data Exchange 3) Implement HL7 2.5.1 File Processor for Standards-Based, Batch File Data Submissions 4) Implement CIR Business Rule Services for Consistent Business Logic and Sustainability 5) Implement Tool for Sustainable Administration, and Quality Assurance of Electronic Data Exchange For Task 1, six new employees will be hired, and BOI will work closely with the Primary Care Information Project (PCIP), which is a DOHMH initiative charged with increasing EHR use. Newly hired staff will ensure that practices with PCIP-sponsored EHRs interoperate with the CIR using HL7 standards. This staff, which includes a Senior Outreach Specialist, two Quality Assurance Analysts, two Data Analysts, and one Computer Specialist, will be supervised by the CIR Director, the Director of Research and Evaluation, senior CIR technical staff and PCIP quality assurance staff. This staff will conduct regular site visits and be responsible for assuring CIR interoperability with PCIP’s new EHR vendors as well as provide ongoing support to the providers who receive the software. In addition to working with PCIP providers, this staff will work closely with other facilities to establish interoperability between EHRs and the CIR. To accomplish Tasks 2 through 5 the CIR will work closely with its current software development vendor to achieve these technical goals.

Clarification of Codes