Advancing Population and Public health Reporting and Outcomes with Vaccination data Exchange (APPROVE)

Project Abstract The response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has underscored the need and importance of a robust public health infrastructure. This is occurring in the larger context of increasing reportable infectious diseases over the past decade. Surveillance of reportable infectious diseases (including COVID-19) and corresponding vaccination coverage are coordinated endeavors in public health but known to be complex due to the quagmire of information systems and organizations. Despite advances in technology, many public health HIT systems do not have robust interoperability (seamless electronic data exchange). This study addresses a knowledge-gap by evaluation of interoperability approaches for electronic vaccination data exchange between HIT systems for infectious disease surveillance, vaccinations and electronic health records (EHRs). This interoperability evaluation will be guided by the RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) implementation framework. Aim 1 will focus on a novel interoperability tool for electronic vaccination data exchange within the public health realm and characterize the enablers and barriers to its use. Aim 2 will evaluate the use of an evolving interoperability tool for electronic vaccination data exchange across public health and EHRs in clinical care. The study is innovative as it evaluates interoperability tools and approaches across key information systems to facilitate infectious disease surveillance and quality of healthcare. This work is of paramount importance and will be timely as COVID-19 vaccines become available and for understanding effective surveillance strategies for a breadth of vaccine-preventable diseases. The overarching goal of this work is to enhance data-driven decision-making and ultimately healthcare quality by facilitating data exchange between HIT systems within public health and across public health and clinical care. While the study will be done in the State of Minnesota, the research findings are generalizable and applicable to public health settings in other states. The learnings can be utilized for enhancing interoperable electronic data exchanges in clinical care and improving health outcomes.