Clinical Decision Support – HLN Consulting, LLC

Towards a National COVID-19 Vaccine Credential Strategy in the US

by Noam Arzton May 28, 2021

I have been monitoring the vaccine credential effort for a long time and watching various initiatives worldwide with a particular focus on what might be done in the United States. In a series of blog posts over the past several months I have described at length how the situation in the US differs from the situation in many other countries. In this post I will review the “facts on the ground” as I see them and offer a way forward for the US.

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Vaccine Credentials Do Not Replace Full Vaccination Histories

by Noam Arzton May 9, 2021

More than a year into the COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdowns to slow the spread of the virus, one of the key factors to reopen the United States and some other countries may be a requirement for individuals to prove that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. This “Proof” of vaccination is called vaccine credentialing and will likely be embodied in a paper or electronic certificate. We have discussed this extensively in a series of articles (see below). On the other hand there are already systems of records that have a far more extensive vaccination history. There is a major concern here among public health officials that the push to minimalization with vaccine credentials will push aside fuller vaccination history. As part of their core function, Immunization Information Systems (IIS) already provide complete and comprehensive immunization records for the individuals whose records they hold either directly or through a clinical provider. In this article we will address the similarities and differences between vaccine credentials and traditional immunization histories and offer some opportunities for public health to maintain its role in data access.

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Vaccine Credentialing Activities: It’s All About the Rules!

by Noam Arzton March 26, 2021

In my previous article, I wrote about the World Health Organization’s Interim guidance describing its technical approach to Smart Vaccination Certificates. What the WHO is doing is the first step. In this article, I would like to address the next steps that need to be taken. Specifically, how are organizations going to use the Smart Vaccine Certificates. This issue boils down to the rules that are going to be developed and adopted to make the SVC’s usable. Many of these rules currently don’t exist so we will start by analyzing some key factors.

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HLN Introduces Support for Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine in its Award Winning ICE Open Source Immunization Forecaster

by Lux Phatakon March 3, 2021

On March 3, 2021, HLN released a new version (v1.28.1) of the Immunization Calculation Engine (ICE) in support of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. ICE is a state-of-the-art open source software system that provides clinical decision support for immunizations for use in Immunization Information Systems (IIS), Electronic Health Record (EHR), and Personal Health Record (PHR) Systems.

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VPAS Supports CDC COVID-19 Provider Agreement

by Lux Phatakon January 15, 2021

COVID-19 vaccination providers must sign a CDC COVID-19 Vaccination ProgramProvider Agreement. To help the New York City Citywide Immunization Registry (CIR), and now West Virginia, meet the CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Program requirements, HLN Consulting developed the Vaccine Provider Agreement System (VPAS).