Florida SHOTS™: Keeping SHOTS in Check

Can you believe it? We’ve now topped 50 million shot records that have been added to the registry via data upload, a process that exports immunization information from current electronic files and transfers it for import into the Florida SHOTS registry.

Interested in learning more about how your practice management or EMR software could be set up to upload shot data to the registry? Call 877-888-SHOT for more information.

Florida SHOTS is growing and expanding in reach, services, and capabilities. Over the past year, Florida SHOTS has introduced a blog, H1N1 vaccination ordering, and much more. As the year begins, we would like to share all the ways we are committed to helping you maximize Florida SHOTS’ shot-tracking tools. Whether you need in-depth training or some quick tips, we’ve got a variety of helpful resources to assist you, including 24/7 web-based training and user guides and an online blog and forum for Florida SHOTS users. As always, all tools, web-based training, and help desk support are free.

Web-Based Training:
Florida SHOTS web-based training is always available by logging into your account and selecting it from the Customer Service menu. Our training modules give you step-by-step instructions and screen shots on everything from data entry to reminder recall to assessing immunization levels in your practice.

User Guide:
Everything you ever want to know about Florida SHOTS can be found in the Florida SHOTS User Guide. Available online, think of this as the encyclopedia of Florida SHOTS. The User Guide can be accessed through the Customer Service menu once you have logged into your account. Whenever the Florida SHOTS system is updated or the functionality expanded, the User Guide is updated to cover the changes.

Quick Tips Guide:
Available in both English and Spanish, the Florida SHOTS Quick Tips guide is a handy reference for how to’s. Topics include logging in, forgotten password, the main menu, entering vaccinations in the registry, 680s, and adding and deleting personnel. This guide is always available as a pdf at www.flshots.com on the training page.

Blog:
The Florida SHOTS blog is an up-to date resource for useful information about the registry. Topics cover current news about benefits, blue cards, data upload, inactive accounts, updates, and training.

Forum:
Get advice from other Florida SHOTS users on the Florida SHOTS forum. Chat about summary reports, electronically certifying 680s, incorporating Florida SHOTS into your daily routine and anything else on your mind. Register (for free, of course) at www.flshotusers.com/forum and start talking today.

Live Help Desk:
A Florida SHOTS representative is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Eastern to help you with any Florida SHOTS questions or concerns. (877) 888-SHOT (7468)

What will happen to all of the immunization records in your office should disaster strike?

If they are paper records, they are subject to water and fire loss. Electronic records are only better if your system has an offsite backup storage that remains secure during the disaster. Remote backups ensure that the records will be there for your office once it is back up and running, but they do not guarantee access for your patients who may be forced to evacuate to other parts of the state or even the US.

The only way to protect your immunization records and keep them available for all your patients regardless of where they go is to store those records in Florida SHOTS, a free, statewide, Web-based immunization registry. This was borne out in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when soon after the storm, Florida’s registry could access the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama state registries.

With this access, the help desk offered assistance for looking up immunization records for evacuees. Florida SHOTS’ staff received and responded to hundreds of inquiries from health departments, private providers, and schools and found many immunization records for children displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Millions Saved in Vaccine and Admin Fees
“The Success of an Immunization Information System in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina” by Julie A. Boom, MD, Anna C. Dragsbaek, JD, and Cynthia S. Nelson, MPH, published in Pediatrics, Volume 119, Number 6, June 2007, looked at the benefits of immunization information systems (IIS) in the Houston area following Hurricane Katrina.

According to the article’s abstract, “within days after Hurricane Katrina in September 2005, the Houston-Harris County Immunization Registry was connected to the Louisiana Immunization Network for Kids Statewide. This linkage provided immediate access to the immunization records of children who were forced to evacuate the New Orleans, Louisiana area. One year later, 18,900 immunization records have been found, representing an estimated cost savings of more than $1.6 million for vaccine alone and $3.04 million for vaccine plus administration fees. This experience demonstrated the vital and previously unrecognized functionality of immunization information systems in a public health emergency.”

“In the immediate days after this devastating event, 200,000 evacuees from the greater New Orleans area headed for Houston, Texas. Most evacuees arrived with few personal belongings. Needless to say, most children’s immunizations records were left at home.”

“To assist public health officials in searching for children’s immunization records, the Web-based immunization registry was made available to providers in the makeshift medical clinics in the Astrodome and George R. Brown Convention Center. Health care workers at these shelters were able to readily access records for children by using the HHCIR-LINKS connection.”

Be Prepared
Hurricanes are a fact of life in Florida. Please join us in being prepared should disaster—natural or manmade—strike our state. If you’re not already enrolled in Florida SHOTS, enrollment is free. If you are enrolled, please ensure that you input shots in the registry either manually or through automated data upload so that those records are protected.

For more information about the registry, enrollment, usage, or data upload, please call 877-888-SHOT (7468) or visit www.flshots.com. Together, we can work to protect our children from vaccine-preventable diseases and safeguard their shot records from unforeseen disaster.

Pharmacies wishing to provide adult influenza vaccinations to their customers are required by Section 465.189, Florida Statutes to enter those shot records into Florida SHOTS™, the statewide online immunization registry. Florida SHOTS data upload significantly reduces record-keeping time for pharmacists and is the easiest way for them to comply with the statutory reporting requirements.

• Florida SHOTS data upload technology offers a simple batching linkage from your existing billing, practice management, or EMR software to the statewide immunization registry.
• It allows pharmacists to automatically upload shot records, avoiding manual data entry and saving hours of time.
• Florida SHOTS has successfully implemented data upload linkages with multiple medical software companies, managed care organizations, health systems, and private physicians practices for the past two years.
• We have the expertise to create a data upload linkage with your corporation’s software so that you can easily comply with the reporting requirements of your adult influenza vaccination program.