Florida SHOTS™: Keeping SHOTS in Check

When it comes to creating certified 680s for direct patient access, you’ve got options.

• You can create both the PIN and the Certified 680 at the same time: quickest option for parents and for offices that enter shots given right away since the certified form will be available immediately for direct access.
• You can create a PIN before creating a Certified (e-signed) Form 680: handy for providers who want to give the parents an instruction sheet with their PIN but who do not have time to update and create the Form 680 at the time of the visit.
• You can choose not to create a PIN at all for a Certified 680: will still give participating schools and daycares access to certified forms, but patients will not have direct access to their 680s.

For more information about setting up direct patient access, see the “Setting Up Patient Shot Record Retrieval” or “Configurar la Recuperación del Registro de Inmunizatión del Paciente” guides.

We’ve been hearing that some offices are confused about expiration of certified 680s and patient PINs. In a nutshell, here’s how it works:

• You have 10 days to certify a 680 after creating a PIN, but if you don’t certify it in that amount of time, the PIN will be deleted from the system and a new pin will have to be issued.
• Once certified, a D.H. Form 680 PIN remains valid—and the form directly accessible to patients—for as long as the content on the form is valid. Any PIN assigned to a certified D.H. Form 680 will not expire prior to expiration of the certified form.

For more information about setting up direct patient access, see the “Setting Up Patient Shot Record Retrieval” or “Configurar la Recuperación del Registro de Inmunizatión del Paciente” guides.

As of May 28, 2011, six confirmed cases of measles have been reported in Florida, the highest number of reported cases since 1997. Five cases were in children aged 12 months to 16 years and all were unvaccinated. Of the five cases in children, four had a religions exemption to vaccination and one did not receive vaccination prior to travel. The importation status of the Florida cases is as follows: one case in a foreign visitor who acquired the disease in his country prior to travel, three cases in Florida residents who traveled to a country with a high incidence of measles, one case who traveled outside of Florida but within the U.S., and one case with an unknown exposure source.

Though no specific treatment for measles is available, supportive therapy is focused on treating complications caused by the measles virus such as dehydration and pneumonia. Prevention through vaccination is the most proven strategy to decrease the burden of measles disease.

Persons who are not protected against the measles virus are encouraged to receive vaccination prior to international travel. The CDC advises at least one dose of measles-containing vaccine for infants 6 months through 11 months of age prior to international travel. Children 12 months of age or older should receive two doses of MMR vaccine, separated by at least 28 days. Adults should review their vaccination records to ensure they are up-to-date, and if indicated, adults born in or after 1957 should receive two doses of MMR vaccine.

More information regarding international travel can be found on the CDC’s website.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a blood-borne and sexually transmitted virus. Rates of new infection and acute disease are highest among adults, but chronic infection is more likely to occur in persons infected as infants or young children.

Hepatitis B vaccination is the most effective measure to prevent HBV infection and its consequences. A strategy of primary concern is universal vaccination of infants to prevent early childhood HBV infection and to eventually protect adolescents and adults from infection.

The ACIP, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, recommend that the hepatitis B vaccine be administered to all infants at birth prior to hospital discharge. The ACIP also recommends that delivery hospitals implement standing orders for administration of hepatitis B vaccine as part of routine medical care of all medically stable infants weighing 2,000 grams or more, regardless of their mothers’ HBsAg status, and immunizing all infants prior to hospital discharge.

To aide healthcare professionals in implementation of standing orders, a resource tool created by the Immunization Action Coalition is available. This tool includes guidelines to help hospitals establish policies and standing orders in their labor and delivery and newborn units.

For a recent newsletter, Florida SHOTS conducted a feature interview with Doreen Levin, Chief Information Officer with Pediatric Associates in Lauderdale Lakes, to discuss the registry. Here is an excerpt from that interview:

What do you think is the best feature of the registry for your office?

For us, being able to print immunization records is a huge benefit. In addition, we have been able to improve our daily workflow so that each night the immunizations for the day are electronically uploaded from our system to Florida SHOTS.  If a new patient comes in who came from another state or a provider not using Florida SHOTS, then we enter the information manually into Florida SHOTS to have a complete record.

If another doctor’s office were to call and ask you whether they should enroll in the registry, what would you say?

• If a child was given shots at the health department, or at any other Florida SHOTS provider, you have a complete record the first time you see the patient.
• If you have an EMP or are planning to have one, you will need to be able to interface with Florida SHOTS to meet the “Meaningful Use” requirement.
• Florida SHOTS is an excellent program that allows the seamless exchange of information between providers and patients.