Reporting Requirements For Pharmacist Immunizers

Certified pharmacists administering vaccines are required to comply with certain reporting requirements. In our third and last article of this series, we discuss some of those requirements below.

Pharmacist immunizers must comply with two separate reporting requirements: (a) an annual reporting requirement for individuals 18 years of age and older to the NYS Department of Health via the Certified Pharmacists Immunizer Survey; and one of the following, (b) immunization registry reporting with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s City Immunization Registry (CIR), if the pharmacist is located in NYC, or the NYS Immunization Information System (NYSIIS) if the pharmacist is located outside of NYC area. The citywide reporting requirement is mandatory for 18 year olds and strongly recommended for other adults but only with their consent.

As discussed in our prior article, each pharmacist must first record and maintain specific patient information in the patient file. Such information includes: recipient’s name, date of vaccine administration, location where the vaccine was administered, administering pharmacist, immunizing agent as well as the manufacturer and lot number of the immunizing agent.

Annual Survey Requirement

In order to comply with the annual DOH reporting requirements a certified pharmacist must have an account with Health Commerce System (HCS) to receive notification of the Certified Pharmacist Immunizer Survey. The surveys typically become available annually on July 1 and requires reporting of aggregated information (i.e., without any personal identifiable information). For example, a pharmacist will need to provide the total number of pneumococcal and seasonal influence vaccines doses administered, the number of vaccines administered to different age groups, the type of facility at which vaccination was given, adverse reactions, as well as other required information. Pharmacists will also have to report certain personal information on the survey (e.g., license number, immunizer certificate information, etc).

CIR/NYSIIS Registry

Depending on where the pharmacist is located, reporting immunizations must also be made to CIR or NYSIIS registry. Once registered with the CIR, pharmacists will be able to report vaccine administration and also view prior vaccination history of recipients. Information must be reported to the CIR Registry within 14 days of vaccine administration. The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reports that its long-term goal is to have complete immunization records for every New Yorker on the CIR Registry.

If you have questions pertaining to pharmacists’ immunization certification, standards and procedures, or record keeping requirements or have other questions, you may contact us here.