New service supports clinicians’ ability to efficiently share and access patient immunization data
Vermont Business Magazine VITL, the trusted source for securely delivering health data for Vermonters, announces today the launch of Vermont’s first two-way immunization data sharing connection between the Vermont Department of Health and Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital in St. Johnsbury. Using the two-way connection built with VITL, clinicians and the health department will be able to easily and efficiently exchange immunization data, back and forth, in real time.
Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital’s clinicians will benefit from efficient access to patients’ immunization histories delivered through the new, two-way connection provided by VITL. The data is available with a single click in the hospital’s electronic health record (EHR).
Previously, when clinicians entered immunization data in their EHR, it was transmitted to the Vermont Immunization Registry via a one-way connection. This was an important step in automating data sharing, but clinicians and staff still had to log in to a separate system when they needed vaccination histories to inform patient care.
“The previous manual processes were burdensome for clinicians and took them away from critical time with patients,” said Shawn Burroughs, chief information officer at Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital. “With this new two-way connection from VITL, clinicians are conveniently provided the most reliable source of information about their patients’ immunization history within their current workflows, which informs better care.”
“The Vermont Immunization Registry is the essential source for complete immunization records,” said Jessie Hammond, division director, Health Statistics and Informatics, Vermont Department of Health. “With this upgrade, clinicians will have access to centralized patient immunization data housed in the Registry, making it easier to help Vermonters and their communities reduce the risk of preventable, communicable diseases.”
“We’re pleased to launch this service with Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital and the Vermont Department of Health,” said Beth Anderson, CEO at VITL. “VITL’s mission is to securely aggregate, standardize, and share the data needed to improve the effectiveness of health care for Vermonters. Reducing the burden on clinicians while giving them time to spend with patients is one way that we’re fulfilling our mission.”
“VITL is looking forward to working with more hospitals and practices to build bidirectional data sharing connections and helping providers help Vermonters stay up to date on vaccinations,” added Anderson.
About VITL
VITL is a nonprofit organization that supports the advancement of health care delivery and reform in Vermont through the aggregation and exchange of health information. Founded in 2005, VITL is the legislatively designated operator of the Vermont Health Information Exchange. VITL’s vision is to be a leader in collaboratively delivering actionable data that leads to better health. Learn more about VITL’s work at www.vitl.net.
About Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital
Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital is located in St. Johnsbury in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. We are a community, not-for-profit, acute care, critical access hospital. NVRH is one of two Vermont hospitals designated as Baby FriendlyTM by the United Nations. The organization provides primary and preventive care, surgical and specialty services, inpatient and outpatient care, and 24-hour, physician-staffed emergency services. Aligned with community partners, NVRH values and invests in efforts to address social conditions to create communities that are well-nourished, well-housed, physically healthy, mentally healthy, and financially secure. NVRH serves the health needs for over 30,000 people in Caledonia and southern Essex counties in Vermont and employs over 700 dedicated staff.
Source: Williston, Vt. – April 20, 2023 – VITL
