2020 Declaration:

South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) declares readiness for the Immunization Registry Measure 1 of Objective 8 for Stage 3 of Meaningful Use upon the deployment of the new Immunization Information System (IIS), which will be known as Statewide Immunization Online Network (SIMON). Deployment is tentatively scheduled for September 14, 2020. If the deployment date changes, this statement will be updated to reflect such change. Please refer to the SIMON website for details about deployment and onboarding of HL7 providers.

Upon deployment of SIMON, providers will no longer need to take an exclusion for this measure for Program Year 2020, as they previously had to for Program Year 2019.

For questions related to SIMON or meaningful use, please reach out to the appropriate agency using the contact information below.

• SIMON questions: DHEC Immunization Division IIS Unit at simon@dhec.sc.gov or 800-277-4687, option 3.
• Meaningful use questions: DHHS Health Information Technology Team at hitsc@scdhhs.gov or 803-898-2996. 

2019 Declaration:

As SCDHEC's Immunization Registry has not declared readiness to accept transmissions in the requirements set forth in Meaningful Use Stage 3. Providers should select the following exclusion in their Program Year 2019 attestations for Immunization Registry Reporting: 

Stage 3 Objective 8, Measure 1 (immunization registry reporting) Exclusion #3: “Any EP who operates in a jurisdiction where no immunization registry or immunization information system has declared readiness to receive immunization data as of 6 months prior to the start of the EHR reporting period." 

Providers are not required to obtain any documentation or communication from SCDHEC regarding Immunization Registry Reporting for Program Year 2019 of the Medicaid Promoting Interoperability Program. All providers in South Carolina should claim the exclusion for upcoming Program Year 2019. No auditable documentation will be required from providers for this measure since SCDHHS has received official notice.

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Immunization Registry Overview

The Immunization Registry for the State of South Carolina is mandated in the SC Code Section 44-29-40 (B) Regulation 61-120.  As such, the Immunization Registry consolidates the vaccination history for patients who visit multiple providers and protects the public from over- or under-immunization.

The Meaningful Use program offers an Immunization Registry Reporting measure under the Public Health Reporting objective.  The information must be sent in HL7 2.5.1 standard between healthcare information systems and DHEC.  Data submission and analysis is coordinated at the state health department (DHEC).

Immunization Registry Reporting Criteria and Standards

DHEC currently accepts Immunization Registry messages from all certified immunization providers.  This includes the following provider types:

• Eligible Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals
• Eligible Providers

DHEC currently accepts Immunization Registry messages for the following Meaningful Use stages:

• Modified Stage 2 (through 2017)

DHEC currently accepts Immunization Registry messages in the following standard format:

• HL7 v2.5.1

 

For additional information or questions regarding the Immunization Registry, please send an email to sciregistry@dhec.sc.gov.