Presentations
March 20, 2024
Welcome & Intro:
- Nathan Bunker, representing AIRA, initiated the meeting, extending a warm welcome to all participants.
- Attendees introduced themselves, detailing their organizational affiliations and roles concerning vaccine code sets.
- Acknowledgment of challenges in grasping and communicating technical facets of vaccine codes was noted.
Roundtable Updates:
- Attendees shared updates on ongoing projects and obstacles related to vaccine code sets.
- Identified challenges encompassed dynamic updates, international coordination, and interoperability issues.
Discussion:
- François KAAG provided insights into the NUVA qualification project.
- Nathan Bunker outlined the day's agenda, emphasizing discussion on CVX metrics and reporting.
- Louise Bourges and Paloma Hawry delved into mapping endeavors and encountered challenges regarding code set granularity.
- Marvin Philippi shared hurdles encountered while exchanging data with an app, citing historical vaccine records and international variations in product codes.
- Jeffrey Goggin highlighted difficulties in interpreting exchanged data, particularly from international sources.
- Roua El Kalach stressed the necessity for standardization and fulfilling community expectations post-COVID.
Next Steps:
- Discussion ensued regarding potential solutions and collaborations to tackle challenges.
- Consensus was reached on the significance of sustained communication and collaboration.
Action Items & Closing Remarks:
- Commitment to follow-up on mapping efforts between different code sets.
- Agreement to explore solutions for interoperability challenges.
- Continued discussions planned on standardization and community expectations.
- Nathan Bunker expressed gratitude to the attendees for their active participation, underscoring the vital role of ongoing collaboration in addressing vaccine code set challenges.
- Presentations from Taylor Rubens-Augustson (CANImmunize), Paloma Hawry, and Faisal Reza (CDC) provided valuable insights into regional perspectives and collaborative efforts.
- Emphasis was placed on aligning with international standards while addressing local needs.
- Concerns regarding resource intensity, international coordination challenges, and effective dating in mapping were thoroughly discussed.
- François KAAG's demonstration of the Python utility for mapping alignments between NUVA and Civics codes was well-received.
December 12, 2023
Participants:
- Nathan Bunker, AIRA
- Paloma Hawry, CDC
- Rob Snelick, NIST
- Caroline Rosen, CDC
- Chris Sorenson, AIRA
- Clément Hennequin, NIST
- François KAAG, France
- Hossam Tamri, CDC
- Max Masnick, MITRE
- Roua El Kalach, CDC
- Cheryl Taylor, NIST
- Taylor Rubens-Augustson, CANImmunize
- Jeff Goggin, KidsNET Care
- Ishmael Mellouli, NIST
international_vaccine_codes_2023.12.13.pptx
Introduction Round:
- Participants introduced themselves, mentioning affiliations and roles.
- Representatives from CDC, AIRA, NIST, France, MITRE, CANImmunize, and KidsNET Care present.
Meeting Scope:
- Emphasis on code-centric metrics, policy discussions, and code set operations.
- Focus on vaccine code sets at the national and international levels.
Meeting Schedule and Format:
- Nathan outlined the meeting format and agenda.
- Planned discussions on CVX updates management and future topics.
- Reminder of the technical and detailed focus of the discussions.
Next Steps:
- Encouragement for participation in updates and discussions.
- Clarification on the meeting's purpose and scope.
- Anticipation of discussions on code sets and mappings.
Meeting Conclusion:
- Acknowledgment of potential late joiners.
- Overview of the meeting structure with introductions, updates, and future topics.
- Nathan thanked participants, concluding the meeting introduction.
Speaker: Nathan Bunker, AIRA
- Discussion on code structure, status, and reference linking.
- Introduction of the data quality checking engine.
- Additional data fields, usage, concept type, and test age explained.
- Incomplete data challenges and future considerations discussed.
Paloma Hawry: Data Retrieval
- Alternative method discussed for retrieving information.
- Nathan Bunker acknowledged Paloma's input.
Chris Sorenson, AIRA: Automation Process
- Automated script for retrieving files presented.
- Manual steps before automation explained.
- Emphasis on XML format consistency and testing procedures.
Max Masnick (MITRE): Smart Health Cards
- Presentation on Smart Health Cards, workflow, and implementation guide.
- JSON format, GitHub repository, and localization options highlighted.
- Discussion and questions from participants.
Code Set Update Process Presentation:
- Cheryl and Caroline explained the manual process for updating the NIST immunization test suite.
- Manual process overview, time frame, challenges, and future considerations discussed.
- Desire expressed for exploring more efficient and automated methods in the future.
General Discussion:
- Participants engaged in a discussion about the dynamic nature of code acceptance, especially during events like the COVID pandemic.
- Nathan requested more details from Max regarding the Smart Health Cards project.
October 10, 2023
international_vaccine_codes_2023.10.11.pptx
Participants
- Nathan Bunker, AIRA
- Rebecca Sandtveit, AIRA
- Mary Beth Kurilo, AIRA
- Roua El Kalch, CDC
- Paloma Hawry, CDC
- Brittany Onye, WA DOH
- Sophia Cantor, WA DOH
- Jeffrey Goggin, RI DOH
- François Kaag, Syadem
- O Epaulard, EVASG
- José Costa Teixeira
The call begin with introductions and short updates from the American Immunization Registry Association (AIRA) and SYstème d'Aide à la Decision Médicale (SYADEM). For the balance of the time the group went through the metrics documented on this website and discussed how they can be improved.
September 20, 2023
international_vaccine_codes_2023-09-20.pptx
Participants:
- Nathan Bunker, AIRA
- Rebecca Sandtveit, AIRA
- Eky Kaelani, Nictiz
- Francois Kaag, Syadem
- Roua El Kalach, CDC
- Taylor Rubens-Augustson, CanImmunize
- Jeffrey Goggin, KIDSNET/RICAIR
- John J., UMC
- Brittany Onye, WA DOH
- Paloma Hawry, CDC
- Max Masnick, MITRE
- Salvador Alvarado, UMC
- Sophia Cantor, WA DOH
- Bryant Karras, WA DOH
Nathan Bunker from AIRA chaired the meeting, which was designed to focus solely on the technical aspects of vaccine code sets. The session opened with an agenda setting, clearly stating that the discussion would not delve into policy or operational elements of software. Participants were given an opportunity to introduce themselves, their organizational affiliations, and the challenges they have been encountering with vaccine code sets. This context-setting was crucial for aligning the conversation that followed, ensuring that all attendees were on the same page.
2023_09_20_whodrug_global_eng.pdf
The spotlight then shifted to the WHODrug project, presented by Salvador Alvarado from UMC. He provided an in-depth outline, touching on the project's focus on standardizing terminology for vaccines and medicines. Alvarado went on to emphasize the project's real-world application, specifically its integration into systems used by the Pan American Health Organization for immunization data standardization in Latin America. He also gave background information about the Uppsala Monitoring Center's global work, setting the stage for the technical discussion that followed.
A comprehensive dialogue ensued about drug coding standards, particularly focusing on the structure and utility of the WHO Drug Global database. Questions ranged from the intricacies of drug code structures to the complexities involved in coding multivalent vaccines. Alvarado led the discussion, explaining how the codes are updated biannually and can be accessed in near real-time via an API. The conversation also elucidated the distinctions between WHO's drug codes and the IDMP (Identification of Medicinal Products) project, emphasizing the extent to which several regulatory agencies recommend or require these standards.
To conclude, Nathan Bunker highlighted ongoing work on developing metrics for vaccine code sets. The aim is to evaluate the capabilities of these sets in coding vaccines that are currently in use, have been used in the past, or are used globally. Bunker indicated that this information will be organized and made publicly available on a Wiki page, which will serve as a centralized resource for future discussions and evaluations.