Washington State Immunization Information System Onboarding Process

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To participate in data exchange with the IIS you must have a WA IIS Information Sharing Agreement Exchange of Immunization Data (PDF) in place. For information about participating in the IIS please visit the Immunization Information System webpage.

The current standard for one-way and bi-directional interfaces is HL7 version 2.5.1, Release 1.5 (PDF). The State Health Information Exchange (HIE), hosted by OneHealthPort, is the preferred transport method for all data exchange with the Department of Health. Message transport for immunization data through the HIE is via web services (CDC WSDL).

Please contact us at IISDataExchange@doh.wa.gov if you have question regarding the interface onboarding process.

Data Exchange Interface Onboarding Process

We follow the same process for all interface projects. The length of the project is determined by how responsive providers and vendors are to action requests and how quickly issues are resolved.

Failure to respond to action requests and to maintain forward movement through the onboarding process may affect your promoting interoperability active engagement status. We may suspend a project if the provider or vendor fails to respond to an action request within 30 days. We may close a project and remove the organization from the project queue if the provider or vendor fails to make progress over a 60-day period (e.g. no improvement in addressing data quality issues or unresolved connectivity issues).

Step 1: Registration of Intent to Exchange Data

If you are seeking Promoting Interoperability (PI) credit and/or to connect to multiple state registries, use the Public Health Data Exchange Registration Form.

If you only want to connect to the IIS (with no PI credit) send an email to IISDataExchange@doh.wa.gov with the following information:

  • Organization/Practice Name:
  • Address:
  • Primary Contact:
  • Phone Number:
  • Email Address:
  • EHR name and version number:
  • EHR Vendor Name:
  • EHR Vendor Contact:
  • Vendor Phone Number:
  • Vendor Email Address:
  • Number of vaccines administered in the last 12 months:

We add organizations to our interface project wait list when we receive the registration of intent. They will stay on the wait list until we have the appropriate staff available to begin an interface project. We prioritize interface projects based on criteria established to meet key immunization program requirements, including participation in the Childhood or Adult Vaccine Programs, and/or a pandemic vaccine response.

Step 2: Invitation to Onboard

When we have the appropriate staff available to begin an interface project, we send you an email invitation to begin onboarding. With the invitation, you'll receive an HL7 Interface Discovery Questionnaire to fill out and return.

Department of Health policy states that all data exchange with the agency will route through the state HIE. To participate in the OneHealthPort HIE, organizations must sign a participation agreement and pay an annual subscription fee to OneHealthPort. The contracting process with OneHealthPort may begin at any time. Connectivity with OneHealthPort HIE should begin during the Discovery phase and must be completed before Testing and Validation may begin.

Step 3: Discovery

When we receive the completed questionnaire, we schedule an onboarding kick-off meeting that may include an EHR demonstration. During this meeting we review the onboarding process and define project participant roles and responsibilities. The provider staff, (with support from their EHR vendor), may be asked to demonstrate how they use the EHR in their practice to capture patient and immunization information. The demonstration helps us to identify potential issues or challenges with message content, data quality, and clinic workflow.

Once any issues/challenges have been addressed, you send us a test message for review. We review the message for HL7 version 2.5.1 format compliance and Washington State requirements. When the format is approved, HL7 account credentials will be provided and data may be sent to the QA/Test system for testing and validation.

Step 4: Testing and Validation

You must send production data for testing and validation. All messages route through our data quality and validation application. Throughout testing, you establish on-going submission of production data to the IIS QA/Test environment just like you will in the production environment. You are expected to establish routine interface monitoring practices. We monitor the messages, set up automatic delivery of error reports, and work with you and your vendor to resolve any issues.

Once message format and content are deemed acceptable, we complete a Data Quality Analysis Report (DQA). Messages must meet the established thresholds for completeness and accuracy of all key data elements before the interface is approved for production. Once approved for production, a “go-live” date is scheduled.

Step 5: Production

When the interface has been approved for production, we assign HL7 account credentials for the IIS production system. We'll send a final prep email to outline go-live steps and on-going responsibilities, which includes Managing Inventory with an Interface (PDF).

We continue to closely monitor your interface for 30 to 90 days after you go live in production to be sure any issues are promptly resolved. You are responsible for:

  • Consistently reviewing the warning/error report and fixing any issues in your EHR and in the IIS.
  • Keeping your EHR application up to date.
  • Ensuring code table values are current with CDC-provided updates.
  • Ensuring the interface continues to function (especially after a power outage, or when you install/upgrade servers and software).

After the 30- to 90-day review period, we monitor your interface on a periodic basis and contact you if we discover any reoccurring issues. We may suspend on-going submission if issues are not resolved within 60 days.

Adding New Facilities to an Existing Interface

We require all new facilities to complete data validation in our QA/Test system using production data before they begin submitting data in the production IIS. This testing helps to ensure quality data is submitted and, helps to ensure successful inventory management for providers receiving state-supplied vaccine. The Adding Facilities to an Interface document explains the process for adding a new facility to an existing interface.

Healthcare Organizations Providing EHR Services to Other Healthcare Providers (e.g. Community Partners)

If you provide EHR services to another organization enrolled in the IIS, but you have not acquired the clinic/practice, then that Org ID and Facility ID will remain separate and must use a separate Import Profile and HL7 User Name/Password to submit data. This is considered a new interface project for that organization and they are required to go through our standard interface onboarding process. The EHR hosting organization in this case would be considered the EHR vendor.

The following documents define the IIS HL7 data exchange standards:

Resources

Back to Immunization Information System

Back to Public Health Data Exchange for Promoting Interoperability