Immunization registries in the EMR Era.

BACKGROUND: The CDC established a national objective to create population-based tracking of immunizations through regional and statewide registries nearly 2 decades ago- and these registries have increased coverage rates and reduced duplicate immunizations. With increased adoption of commercial electronic medical records (EMR)- some institutions have used unidirectional links to send immunization data to designated registries. However- access to these registries within a vendor EMR has not been previously reported. PURPOSE: To develop a visually integrated interface between an EMR and a statewide immunization registry at a previously non-reporting hospital- and to assess subsequent changes in provider use and satisfaction. METHODS: A group of healthcare providers were surveyed before and after implementation of the new interface. The surveys addressed access of the California Immunization Registry (CAIR)- and satisfaction with the availability of immunization information. Information Technology (IT) teams dev