During the Spring of 2023, AcademyHealth, AIM, and NASHP brought together teams from 63 state, territorial, and urban immunization jurisdictions created through eight regional Vaccine Access Cooperative (VAC) meetings. These meetings gathered leaders from state immunization programs, Medicaid programs and other state agencies, immunization coalitions, physicians, pharmacists, organizations representing historically marginalized communities, early childhood leaders, and other key partners to develop state-specific approaches for improving pediatric COVID-19 vaccination rates. Building on this momentum and new partnerships forged, AcademyHealth, AIM and NASHP launched the Vaccine Information Sharing and Education Resource (VISER) Network. Utilizing two separate workstreams, AcademyHealth is supporting in-depth technical assistance to improve data exchange between Medicaid and Immunization Information Systems (IIS).
Vaccine Information Sharing and Education Resource (VISER) Learning Network
The Vaccine Information Sharing and Education Resource (VISER) Learning Network is a monthly forum for cross-state discussion on:
- Hot topics impacting vaccination efforts
- Timely information and strategies for addressing current challenges
- Promising and best practices to improve vaccination rates
- Advancing equitable outcomes in reducing vaccine-preventable diseases
The Learning Network features a topic of interest each month for cross-state knowledge sharing, which may focus on innovative strategies for increasing access to vaccines in under-resourced communities, combating mis- and disinformation, and designing outreach and education strategies for patients and providers, and more. To be added to the VISER Learning Network mailing list, email VISERnetwork@nashp.org.
In-Depth Technical Assistance Opportunity
Immunization Information Systems (IIS) serve as rich repositories of immunization data that can be used by health partners to identify missed opportunities to vaccinate individuals, especially those who live in under-resourced areas where access to recommended vaccines may be limited. When immunization and Medicaid programs work together to exchange information, improved vaccination coverage rates can be achieved.
These partnerships provide mutual benefit, as Medicaid agencies can utilize IIS data to meet The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) quality measures, and immunization programs can use funding from Medicaid agencies and managed care organizations (MCOs) to support IIS infrastructure, including contracts with IIS software vendors, upgrades to servers, and personnel costs. However, not all state immunization and Medicaid programs have formal agreements in place to exchange this information, which results in missed opportunities to vaccinate individuals as well as support IIS innovation.
In response to these ongoing challenges, the VISER Network is working with four state teams, Connecticut, North Dakota, Oregon, and Virginia to provide in-depth technical assistance on specific goals related to connecting IIS and Medicaid programs in order to exchange immunization data between agencies and support IIS infrastructure through state funds and/or federal matching funds. We anticipate an opportunity for participation from up to three additional states/jurisdictions over the three-year project period.