Special Edition:
Updates on the Virginia Immunization Information System (VIIS)
First and foremost, we want to thank you for your dedication and commitment to keeping Virginia's communities safe and healthy. The past year has shone a spotlight on the important role immunizations play in protecting our communities. A key strategy to ensuring Virginia achieves and maintains optimal immunization rates is a strong statewide data system.

As many of you are aware, there will be changes to the requirements for the use of the Virginia Immunization Information System (VIIS) going into effect January 1st. Pursuant to Chapter 211 of the 2021 Special Session, as of January 1, 2022, all health care providers in the Commonwealth that administer immunizations must report such patient immunization information to the Virginia Immunization Information System (VIIS) as stated in the Code of Virginia, 32.1-46.01.

Below you'll find a summary of these changes and resources for new, returning, and existing VIIS users. Additionally, ImmunizeVA and the Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (VA-AAP) have partnered with VDH’s Division of Immunization to offer a webinar on the changes in requirements for VIIS on Thursday, January 27th from 12-1. During this webinar, VIIS trainers will discuss the changes, how they are impacting providers, and review the enrollment process.
Summary
The Virginia Immunization Information System (VIIS) is the statewide immunization registry which combines immunization histories for persons of all ages from both the public and the private sector. Medical professionals can view and edit their patient’s immunization records in VIIS. Medical facilities can transmit immunization data electronically from their Electronic Medical Record (EMR) to VIIS.

For years VIIS has provided data on immunization rates in Virginia and stored immunization records. However, only providers administering COVID vaccines and vaccinations through the Virginia Vaccines for Children and Adult programs were required to use the system. The lack of consistent reporting has created gaps in our data and created barriers to accessing immunization records for some families.

As such, the Virginia General Assembly codified a law requiring all healthcare providers, as defined in §32.1-127.1:03, in the Commonwealth that administer immunizations to report such patient immunization information to the Virginia Immunization Information System (VIIS) pursuant to §32.1-46.01. This requirement will go into effect January 1, 2022. For those that are not currently using VIIS, if the demand to enroll exceeds the capacity of the VIIS support team, they will schedule the earliest possible date for your team to be enrolled. There will not be a penalty if this date is after January 1st.

If you are not already actively submitting immunization administration data to VIIS or are unsure if you are, please send an email to VIISInfo@vdh.virginia.gov and a VIIS Trainer will contact you. Please note that there will likely be a higher number of enrollment requests than average. Your patience is appreciated as the VIIS team works to enroll everyone in a timely manner.
The Provider Enrollment Process

The following information was provided by the Division of Immunization at the Virginia Department of Health regarding the enrollment process:

1.    Complete and submit the 2022 Mandate Pre-Registration form. NOTE: this form will be available soon.
2.    Have a discussion with a VIIS Trainer to determine if an existing registration is on file.
3.    Complete and submit a registration in the Virginia Electronic Registration for Immunization Programs (VERIP) system: VERIP Registration System
4.    Interested in Data Exchange? Answer Yes to this question in the registration and you will be asked to complete an MOA. Complete and Submit the MOA (Memorandum of Agreement) to exchange data with VIIS. NOTE: The MOA is required before data testing can start.
5.    Attend a live webinar VIIS training session.
6.    Access to VIIS will be granted upon completion of training.
Resources

The Division of Immunization at VDH has a comprehensive library of resources on their VIIS website. We’ve created this Resource Board to quickly link you to VIIS resources.

The VA-AAP has created a Facebook forum for providers to share information and best practices about VIIS. This group is open to anyone using VIIS. To join, please submit a request on Facebook to join the group.

Training and Technical Assistance from the Health Quality Innovation Network

The Health Quality Innovation Network (HQIN) helps providers improve clinical and operational performance through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) and Hospital Quality Improvement Contractor (HQIC) programs. HQIN can provide the following support to VIIS users at no cost:

  • Work with practices to ensure they are fully connected to the VIIS data exchange, so they have access to the most current vaccination data for their patients through the EHR.
  • Review EHR setup and determine what functionality a practice has as far as Clinical Decision Support (CDS) alerts to remind or flag providers about upcoming or overdue vaccinations.
  • Review EHR for other built-in features a practice may have available but have not been implemented.
  • Conduct an analysis of the current practice workflows and determine any potential improvements to ensure patients are receiving immunizations in a timely manner or develop recall campaigns for those that are overdue.
  • Identify potential mitigation strategies for improving vaccination rates.
  • Assist with EHR data reporting to identify a practice’s more at-risk populations depending on the vaccinations or campaign the practice is working to improve on.
 
There is no cost for these services, but all participants must sign a participation agreement committing to sharing quality measure data and meeting with the HQIN team regularly to track quality measure improvements. To learn more, visit the links below:

·      Who We Help
·      Fact Sheet
Become a Member!
Become a member of the coalition by submitting a member agreement today!

As a member you'll also have access to a member-only, password protected portal that serves as a hub for information sharing and collaboration among members. Once your member agreement has been processed you can access the portal and set up a profile by clicking the 'Member' tab in the website toolbar.
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ImmunizeVA is a project of the Institute for Public Health Innovation
in partnership with Virginia Department of Health.