Immunization Information Systems—Progress on Integration of School Nurses

Abstract

The following is an article and roundtable discussion on school nurse integration into immunization information systems. The discussion participants were April Bailey, Deputy Director, Immunization Division, Indiana State Department of Health; Thomas Maerz, Manager, Wisconsin Immunization Registry; Erin Seward, Immunization Program Manager, Nevada State Health Division; and Debra Warren, Project Manager, KSWebIZ, Kansas Immunization Program.

Negotiating Access to Health Information to Promote Students’ Health

“…Based on a multistate roundtable discussion on integration of IIS in school health centers, there is much variability between states on how IIS are being used by school nurses. In Nevada, school nurses have full access while school nurses in Virginia only have access with parental consent (Galemore, 2011). In New Jersey, school nurses report being denied access to immunization records because providers are concerned that such access would violate confidentiality (Galemore, 2011).…”

How School Nurses Can Benefit From Immunization Information Systems

“…There is much variability from state to state on how comprehensively the IIS is used and who uses it (Tables 1 and 2). According to a roundtable discussion with representatives from four states in 2010 (Galemore, 2011), all health care providers in Nevada are required to input immunization data for both children and adults. School nurses have had full access for 4 years and they "love it."…”

“…Families in Rhode Island often bring immunization data from several providers to the school nurse who then compiles the school immunization record. If these school nurses had full access, they could input these data, updating the state IIS to reflect a student's comprehensive immunization record (Galemore, 2011). Attention to interoperability and consistent use by all stakeholders would enhance the data stored and retrieved.…”

“…Multiple stakeholders note how important it is to both public health and school health to be linked to state IIS, increasing the capacity to track mandated and recommended vaccines for school-age children. Although school nurses may report that they do not have "access" to state IIS (National Association of School Nurses, 2010, 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) information from 2009 shows that 42 out of 47 reporting states do give access to school personnel (see Table 1). This discrepancy raises a number of questions.…”