ImpactSIIS is Ohio's Statewide Immunization Information System database of vaccine history that has existed since the 1980s. Unfortunately, ImpactSIIS 1.0 originally lacked interoperability with many computer systems, and healthcare providers had to double-enter the information into both ImpactSIIS and their own records. ImpactSIIS 2.0 is now up and running and is compatible with other computer systems, electronic health records (EHRs), and some dispensing software that has EHR capabilities.
Pharmacists and their practice sites can register for access to ImpactSIIS through the Ohio Department of Health’s (ODH) Public Health Reporting Enrollment website. Registering with ImpactSIIS is critical to administer the COVID-19 vaccine because the currently released vaccines require two vaccinations 21 or 28 days apart. The ODH website has several short training videos available here.
Once registered, pharmacists may need to contact their EHR/dispensing software vendor to integrate this web-based application into the system. The ODH website also includes information on connectivity with computer systems using HL7 to eliminate double entry — one in the pharmacy system and one in ImpactSIIS. If this is not feasible, pharmacists can use ImpactSIIS as the primary mode of recording and accessing patient immunization records.