Assessing the Immunization Information System and electronic health record interface accuracy for COVID-19...

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Immunization Data Management
• Primary Care Research

Background:

• Electronic health records (EHR) are crucial for patient data management.
• Accurate COVID-19 vaccination status is vital for public health and clinical decision-making.
• Interoperability challenges exist between EHR systems and state immunization information systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the accuracy of COVID-19 vaccination status recorded in EHRs.
• To assess the effectiveness of manual queries to state immunization databases for verifying vaccination records.
• To identify limitations in data transfer between patient charts and immunization information systems.

Main Methods:

• The study focused on adult primary care patients within a university health system.
• COVID-19 vaccination status was evaluated using EHR data.
• Manual queries were performed on the Kansas and Missouri Immunization Information Systems for patients with unknown vaccination status.

Main Results:

• Manual queries of immunization information systems for 4114 patients with unknown vaccination status revealed that 44% had been previously vaccinated.
• Attempts to fully assess the comprehensiveness of immunization information systems were hindered by incomplete EHR documentation.
• Patient outreach efforts to confirm vaccination status yielded poor response rates.

Conclusions:

• When EHR systems rely on manual queries for data transfer from immunization information systems, patient COVID-19 vaccination status is frequently inaccurate.
• The reliance on manual data retrieval compromises the completeness and accuracy of vaccination records within EHRs.
• Improved data integration and automated interfaces are necessary to ensure reliable vaccination status reporting in primary care settings.