Open Source – HLN Consulting, LLC

HLN Adds Additional Support for Earliest/Overdue Date in Latest Release of Open Source Immunization Forecaster

by Noam Arzton April 13, 2018

A new release (v 1.12.1) of the Immunization Calculation Engine (ICE) is now available (download ICE version 1.12.1). ICE is a state-of-the-art open-source software system that provides clinical decision support (CDS) for immunizations for use in Immunization Information Systems (IIS), Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Personal Health Record (PHR) Systems.

The release includes support Earliest Date and Overdue Date for additional vaccines: Hep A, MMR and Zoster. If enabled, ICE will output two additional forecast dates along with the Recommendation Date: the Earliest Date and Overdue Date. The Earliest Date is the soonest date that the vaccine can be given and still be considered valid. The Overdue Date is the date after which an immunization administered would be considered late. With this release, ICE returns the earliest and overdue dates for seven vaccine groups, and the remaining three vaccine groups will be completely supported in future releases of ICE in Spring 2018.

In addition, this release includes several other changes with are documented in the release notes. The latest ICE Implementation Guide (v2r20) describes how implementers should update their installation and software to properly read the Earliest, Recommended, and Overdue dates.

Feel free to e-mail us at ice@hln.com if you have any questions.

HLN Adds Support for Earliest/Overdue Date in Latest Release of Open Source Immunization Forecaster

by Noam Arzton March 13, 2018

A new release (v 1.11.1) of the Immunization Calculation Engine (ICE) is now available (Download ICE version 1.11.1). ICE is a state-of-the-art open-source software system that provides clinical decision support (CDS) for immunizations for use in Immunization Information Systems (IIS), Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Personal Health Record (PHR) Systems.

The release includes support for Earliest Date and Overdue Date. If enabled, ICE will output two additional forecast dates along with the Recommendation Date: the Earliest Date and Overdue Date. The Earliest Date is the soonest date that the vaccine can be given and still be considered valid. The Overdue Date is the date after which an immunization administered would be considered late. In this release, ICE returns the earliest and overdue dates for four vaccine groups: Meningococcal ACWY, Polio, Rotavirus and Varicella. The ICE team expects the remaining vaccine groups will be completely supported in future releases of ICE in Spring 2018.

In addition, this release includes a General Rule update which fixes an issue that resulted in the General Rule “Shots Administered Below Series Absolute Minimum Age for Dose 1” not being triggering when there are 2 or more invalid shots given below the absolute minimum age for Dose 1.

The latest ICE Implementation Guide (v2r19) describes how implementers should update their installation and software to properly read the Earliest, Recommended, and Overdue dates. The relevant information starts on page 43. Note that a “track changes” version of this same guide is also available. The tracked changes are intended to make it easier for the reader to see what has changed in the Guide since the prior release of the ICE Implementation Guide (v2r18).

You can determine which release of ICE you are using by viewing the README.HISTORY file that is included with each distribution.

Please feel free to e-mail us at ice@hln.com if you have any questions.

See press release.

HLN Participates in HIMSS18 Interoperability Showcase

by Noam Arzton March 8, 2018

During the week of March 5 HLN participated along with other public health colleagues in the HIMSS18 Interoperability Showcase which features real-life demonstrations of health information interoperability. The Public Health Reporting use case included HLN’s Open Source Reportable Conditions Knowledge Management System (RCKMS) which is being deployed nationally in conjunction with CDC,the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), and the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL). RCKMS provides the clinical decision support component for electronic case reporting, allowing an EHR system to send clinical information to a centralized web service and receive a response indicating whether the patient’s clinical data needs to be reported to public health, and if so to which agencies and through what mechanism.

In addition, HLN’s ICE Open Source Immunization Forecasting Software was included within two products demonstrated by eClinicalWorks and DSS in the Immunization and Vaccination use case.

HLN is a Gold Corporate Member of HIMSS.

HLN Participates in PCORS CDS Learning Network National Webinar

by Noam Arzton January 18, 2018

HLN organized and participated in a national webinar titled CDS for Immunizations (CDSi): A Community and Standards-based Approach on January 18, 2018. Speakers included:

Dr. Noam Arzt, President of HLN, who spoke about the business case for clinical decision support for immunizations, and about HLN’s Open Source ICE vaccine evaluation and forecasting product
Stuart Myerburg from CDC who spoke about the CDC CDSi project
Angel Aponte from the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene who spoke about real-work implementations in the Citywide Immunization Registry (CIR)

Over 50 individuals participated in the webinar which was sponsored by the Patient-Centered Clinical Decision Support (CDS) Learning Network (PCORCDS).

HLN Convenes Advisory Board for its Open Source ICE Immunization Forecasting Software

by Noam Arzton November 17, 2017

On November 13, 2017 HLN held its first meeting of a newly-formed advisory board for its award-winning Open Source Immunization Calculation Engine (ICE) software. The ICE Review Board, as it will be known, is made up of a diverse set of public health, academic, and private-sector stakeholders. Its purpose is to provide feedback and recommendations for improving ICE and its related products. Working in conjunction with a Subject Matter Expert Workgroup, which is also convened by HLN and meets regularly to ensure that default ICE rules are being developed to adhere to Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) clinical guidelines, the Review Board will focus more on the overall direction and functionality of the clinical decision support products. This includes identifying enhancements or emerging needs of the clinical community for consideration. The Review Board is expected to meet quarterly.

ICE is a fully configurable vaccine forecasting/decision support web service tool which provides state-of-the-art clinical decision support for immunizations (CDSi). ICE can be used in Immunization Information Systems (IIS), Electronic Health Records (EHR), Health Information Exchanges (HIEs), and Personal Health Record (PHR) Systems. In June 2017, HLN was awarded the 2017 Upshot Award for Excellence in Vaccine Supply, Access, and Use by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Vaccine Program Office (NVPO) for its work on ICE.