Arkansas Department of Health

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• On-Boarding Process

Immunizations On-Boarding Process

Click the steps below for more information.

Stage 1: Complete Steps 1-3 
Stage 2: Complete Steps 1-6 

• Step 1: Registration

  Eligible Provider (EP) or Eligible Hospital (EH) notifies ADH of interest in submitting Immunization data for Meaningful Use (MU).

  1. Complete the Immunization registration process through the Meaningful Use Registration and Communications System (MURCS).

  Note: Each provider that plans to attest for MU must complete the registration process, and enroll with the Arkansas WebIZ Immunization Information System. ADH is working on a solution to auto-populate information from the WebIZ registration system to the MU registration system.

  Completion of this step assumes the data submitter has acquired and implemented a certified health IT product capable of producing an HL7 2.5.1 ELR message.

  2.  Proceed to Step 2: Pre-testing.

• Step 2: Pre-testing

  Eligible Provider or Eligible Hospital generates and evaluates Immunization test messages.

  1. Review the Immunization Information System implementation guide: 

  • Arkansas WebIZ Immunization Registry HL7 2.5.1 Local Implementation Guide

  Disclaimer: In Arkansas, the immunization record is part of the medical record and covered under HIPPA. ADH cannot directly work with any EHR vendor to approve the HL7 message unless there is a provider partner. Vendors may contact Arkansas’ Regional Exchange Center (REC) to locate a provider partner.

  2. Use the certified EHR system to create a set of test messages according to the specifications in the implementation guide. Use of HL7 2.5.1 message is required. 

  Note: ADH does not have the capacity to support the development of an HL7 message for individual health systems. Review the above implementation guides, and discuss any known issues with your software vendor to determine if the vendor is able to send HL7 messages.

  2. Continue to Step 3: Testing

   

• Step 3: Testing

  Eligible Provider submits cancer test message to ADH.

  1. Upload a test message into MURCS and include HL7 validation reports from the NIST tool. (See Step 2) that indicate test messages are free of errors.
     • Uploading an HL7 2.5.1 Validation Report into MURCS

  Questions? Contact the IIS Meaningful Use section at ADH.IMM.MU@arkansas.gov.

  Email is not a secure mechanism of data transfer. Do not submit test messages containing personally identifiable health information through email. ADH reviews the messages and ensures that they meet standards specified for Meaningful Use. Once the review is complete, ADH provides communication about the outcome of testing that can be used for attestation purposes.

  For Stage 1 of Meaningful Use, completion of testing satisfies the requirements for attestation. Log into MURCS for validation or acknowledgment reports. 

  Stage 2 continues until production.

   2. Proceed to Step 4: In Queue.

• Step 4: In Queue

  Eligible Provider or Eligible Hospital is placed on a waiting list for ongoing submission and additional validation testing.

  • EPs and EHs are responsible for ensuring that all data pertaining to immunizations is entered into the database throughout the testing and queue times. Information submitted to the test servers will not be transferred to production.
  • It is the responsibility of the provider, not ADH, to ensure that all immunizations are reported in accordance with state law throughout this process.

  Once an eligible hospital or professional reaches the front of the queue, the provider is notified by an ADH Program Coordinator when it is time to proceed to validation.

• Step 5: Validation

  Eligible Provider or Eligible Hospital establishes Immunization data feed to ADH and works directly with Immunization Program Coordinator for data validation. 

  1. Review the Process Overview for Electronic Data Exchange to the Registry document to establish Interoperability.

  2. Establish transport mechanism with WebIZ. To establish a connection with ADH WebIZ Immunization Information System, download the WebIZ Immunization Information System Connectivity Instructions for Arkansas WebIZ Main Application & School Application or send an email to ADH.IMM.MU@arkansas.gov, and request information on additional testing procedures for providers or vendors representing providers interested only in meeting the CMS Meaningful Use EHR adoption incentives.

  3. Transmit a test message via the transport mechanism.

  4. Begin ongoing submission and participate in validation activities. 

  5. Proceed to Step 6: Production.

      

• Step 6: Production

  Eligible Provider or Eligible Hospital reports Immunization data and participates in routine quality assurance activities.

  1. Continue ongoing submission of Immunization data to Arkansas WebIZ, the Immunization Information System for the state of Arkansas.

  • The EP or EH is responsible for maintaining the quality of messages sent to the IIS. 
  • All interface messages resulting in an error are expected to be corrected within five (5) business days of the error being generated. Failure to resolve messages with errors will lead to the IIS management taking steps to ensure the data of the IIS is maintained.
    • After five (5) business days the EP/EH will receive a phone call from the Interface Coordinator alerting of a data issue and requesting immediate compliance in bringing about a solution.
    • After seven (7) business days the EP/EH will receive a phone call from the IIS Coordinator warning that immediate action is required or the EP/EH will not be allowed to submit data electronically to the IIS.
    • After ten (10) business days the interface will be discontinued and the EP/EH will be required to start at “Step 1: Registration” if re-establishing the interface is requested.​

   2.  The IIS Data Quality Analysts run periodic data quality reports on every facility submitting data electronically to the IIS. These reports are available to the point of contact identified in Step 2: Pre-Testing.

   3.  All VFC providers must ensure that dose level accountability is for every vaccine given at the practice, regardless of funding source.

  Learn more about Meaningful Use activities at the Arkansas Department of Health by visiting the Meaningful Use page.

  Downloads

  Meaningful Use Immunizations On-Boarding Process

  Questions? Contact the Immunizations Information System at ADH.IMM.MU@arkansas.gov.