Immunization information system progress--United States, 2003.

One of the national health objectives for 2010 is to increase to at least 95% the proportion of children aged <6 years who participate in fully operational, population-based immunization registries (objective 14-26). Immunization registries are confidential, computerized information systems that collect and consolidate vaccination data from multiple health-care providers, generate reminder and recall notifications, and assess vaccination coverage. A registry with added capabilities, such as vaccine management, adverse event reporting, lifespan vaccination histories, and interoperability with electronic medical records (EMRs), is called an immunization information system (IIS). This report summarizes data from CDC's 2003 Immunization Registry Annual Report (IRAR), a survey of IIS grantees in 50 states, five cities, and the District of Columbia (DC) that receive funding under section 317b of the Public Health Service Act. The findings of the 2003 IRAR indicate that approximately 44% of U.S. children aged <6 years participated in an IIS. In addition, 76% of public vaccination provider sites and 36% of private vaccination provider sites submitted immunization data to an IIS during the last 6 months of 2003. Increasing health-care provider participation by linking EMRs to IISs is vital to meeting the national health objective.