The AIRA 2026 National Meeting in Pittsburgh established a powerful tone of community, collaboration, and commitment right from the start. The opening plenary welcomed us to the historic and interesting city (home to Heinz, after all?!) and the keynote speakers underscored the importance of transparent and consistent communication across the public health sector. These themes provided an ideal introduction to our own Change Management presentation, which echoed many of the same core messages.
The conference felt a bit like a reunion, where attendees reconnect with old friends and forge new partnerships. With more than 400 participants, including the return of our CDC partners, the event provided a vibrant forum for networking during sessions and receptions.
This year’s program introduced “deep dive” sessions for exploration of critical subjects like the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), clinical decision support (CDS), and change management. This extended format offered a collaborative environment through interactive exercises and surveys, increasing participants’ understanding and usage of change management tools and techniques to build comprehensive communication and training frameworks for implementing successful IIS improvements. Additionally, a Merck-facilitated panel, featuring our colleague, Erin Roche, explored various perspectives on how IIS can support consistent clinical decision-making and ensure timely access within the current landscape. This discussion, as well as AIRA’s CDS town hall, provided a great backdrop to our CDS presentation scheduled the next day.
The spirit of collaboration was on full display through various presentations and the ever popular and entertaining AIRA gameshow.Throughout the conference, HLN team members with our partners and clients presented on several key topics to include:
- A FHIR Onboarding Framework for School-Based Data Providers – Mike Berry and Danielle Woods (RIDOH)
- Implementing VTrcks API for Vaccine Ordering and Transactions Data in NYC – Tammy Seithel, Vincent Tam (NYC DOH)
- Outcomes of Smarty Implementation for Standardizing Rhode Island Addresses – Mike Berry and Danielle Woods (RIDOH)
Strategies for Effective Change Management in IIS Modernization – Marcey Propp and Lura Daussat (PHII)- CDS Insights via the Immunization Calculation Engine (ICE) – Erin Roche and Marcey Propp
Slides from all the sessions will be provided by AIRA in the coming weeks, but the HLN presentations, noted above, are available at hln.com.
The AIRA National Meeting also highlighted a collective commitment to modernizing public health data infrastructure. Notable sessions included Mike Suralik’s presentation on IIS cloud strategies (including cost considerations with using the cloud), as well as strategic initiatives such as CDC data quality practices, Arizona’s REDCap usage, Missouri’s Agile application, and Rhode Island’s FHIR-enabled IIS.
Ultimately, the AIRA 2026 National Meeting served as an essential forum for the immunization community to celebrate successes, address challenges, and reaffirm a shared dedication and passion to improving public health data systems and workforce through collaboration and transparent communication.