ARLINGTON, Va. — Four of the nation’s largest retail pharmacy operators have adopted the Surescripts Immunization Registry Reporting service.
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Walgreens currently uses Surescripts Immunization Registry Reporting in 7,900 of its drug stores. |
The health information network said Tuesday that Walgreens, CVS/pharmacy, Rite Aid and Safeway are now leveraging the service, which provides a single connection point to 44 state and regional immunization registries nationwide, covering 88% of the U.S. population.
Immunization Registry Reporting is designed to improve how pharmacies and health care providers report required or voluntary information to public health officials by easing the administrative burden and providing timely updates to local registries, according to Surescripts. The service also seamlessly integrates with current electronic health record (EHR workflows) and helps EHR users meet Meaningful Use requirements, the company added.
"This service simplifies and streamlines the immunization registry reporting process, saving pharmacies and EHR users valuable time and resources while contributing to the effective monitoring of public health," Jeff Miller, executive vice president and general manager of clinical network services at Surescripts, said in a statement.
Walgreens currently uses Surescripts Immunization Registry Reporting in 7,900 of its drug stores and sent 7 million Immunization Registry Reporting transactions in 2013. Surescripts said Walgreens plans to roll out the service to more of its 8,200 stores.
Late last month, Walgreens announced that it had implemented Walgreens Cloud EHR, which the company called the largest, centralized, cloud-based EHR system ever deployed for a pharmacy. The platform gives pharmacists at all Walgreens stores access to patient prescription, immunization and health testing records in a single view.
"Immunization registry reporting is a powerful public health tool and is key in advancing population health," stated Brad Wasson, group vice president for health innovations at Walgreens. "Walgreens Cloud EHR system allows us to share immunization data with Surescripts, which helps ensure that immunization information is provided to the appropriate registry in a timely manner."
Via the Immunization Registry Reporting service, pharmacies and other health care providers can submit a uniform bulk transmission to Surescripts, which then distributes the requested data to the correct local registry.
"Pharmacies are playing a larger role in providing immunizations through convenient locations with accessible and highly trained immunizing pharmacists," according to Josh Flum, senior vice president of retail pharmacy at CVS Health. "CVS/pharmacy’s participation in Surescripts Immunization Registry service will enhance the reporting of our data for flu shots and other immunizations, which will improve the ability of public health officials to monitor important information about immunizations in our communities."
In addition, Surescripts ensures compliance with local variations in government regulations and maintains system updates as new registries form or standards evolve. That enhances the ability of public health officials to track and measure immunization rates and plan targeted responses, the company said.
"As one of the first pharmacy retailers to adopt Immunization Registry Reporting, Rite Aid has seen firsthand how the use of this tool helps provide valuable immunization information to public health officials easily and securely," stated Dan Miller, senior vice president of pharmacy operations at Rite Aid. "Expanding the Surescripts network will enable Rite Aid and others to work together towards our shared goal of providing more timely and comprehensive population health management."
Surescripts also announced that three more EHR vendors — Amazing Charts, Aprima and digiChart — have integrated their solutions with the Immunization Registry Reporting service.
On Friday, Michael Popovich, chief executive officer of new NACDS Associate Member Scientific Technologies Corp., highlighted the benefits of state immunization registries to pharmacies.
"Combining immunization records of patients who receive services from multiple sources and having a decision support interface allows immunizers to better determine when immunizations are due and which immunizations are needed," Popovich explained in an NACDS website posting, adding that accurate, timely data reduces missed opportunities and avoids inappropriate or duplicate vaccine doses.
"As pharmacies nationwide continue to expand their immunization programs, there will be an increased demand for pharmacists and pharmacies to expand their reporting to state and other public health registries," he stated.
Pharmacies should seek systems that "offer more than just a compliance piece to meet state reporting criteria" by providing broader information exchange, according to Popovich. "An advanced immunization system that offers bidirectional, real-time forecasting, with a decision support interface and patient accessibility, could launch a pharmacy’s immunization business exponentially. In a recent review of state registries, more than 33 million patients, with a combined 310 million immunization events, were noted."
