Check out our newest step-by-step guide that will provide instructions for county health departments (CHD) to document vaccine education encounters with parents/guardians requesting Religious Exemption Form DH681 within Florida SHOTS, as indicated on the DOH Immunization Section guidelines. Available HERE and in Spanish.

All data exchange participants will need to use real-time web services. With web services, uploads occur automatically, so as soon as Florida SHOTS receives the records from your EHR, the shots are processed immediately! This means your office can instantly create and print the DH Form 680 and immunization history forms without duplicate data entry.

If your office is currently using a “batch” process to upload your immunizations, make sure to contact your software provider to ask about real-time and bi-directional web services. Your EHR company will need to move to real-time web services for your shots to upload and post. As we move through the process of transitioning all uploads to web services, our Florida SHOTS Data Team will be working closely with practices to ensure a smooth transition.

Accurate data in Florida SHOTS leads to easier reporting, more efficient workflow, and better patient care. Real-time data exchange allows for instant shot data processing and reporting. It also eliminates duplicate data entry—reducing the chance for errors.

Remember: as of June 30, 2019, all data exchange participants will be required to use real-time interfaces. If you aren't already using real-time data exchange, check with your software provider about switching as soon as possible.

For more information or a personalized data quality analysis, contact our Data Quality Specialist: Gretchen Cotter: (786) 271-6453 or [email protected]

COMPLETE. CORRECT. CURRENT.

By July 1, 2019, all data uploads will be moving to real-time web services. With web services, uploads occur automatically, so as soon as Florida SHOTS receives the records from your electronic health record (EHR), the shots are processed immediately! This means your office can instantly create and print the DH Form 680 and immunization history forms without duplicate data entry.

If your office is currently using a “batch” process to upload your immunizations, make sure to contact your software provider to ask about real-time and bi-directional web services, as Florida SHOTS will no longer accept batch files after June 30, 2019. Your EHR company will need to move to real-time web services for your shots to upload and post.

Check out our current issue of our online newsletter, “SHOTS Tracker.” In this issue, we highlight the importance of checking immunization status at every patient encounter.  

You can access it here in English or Spanish.

A recent determination by the Florida Department of Health regarding patient non-participation (“opt-out”) in Florida SHOTS indicates that it may be necessary to delete the patients records of those opted-out from the immunization registry. Be aware that immunization records for some of your patients who opted-out may no longer be available to you through Florida SHOTS. However, immunization information in your electronic medical record will not be affected.

We are attempting to contact adult patients and parents of children and adolescent patients who may have elected to opt-out of Florida SHOTS, to give them the opportunity to rescind that election and participate fully in Florida SHOTS. Please encourage any patients or parents of your patients who may be affected by this recent development to respond to our mailing as quickly as possible, and to elect to keep their immunizations on file with the Department of Health and in Florida SHOTS.

After 3/1/19, a search for a patient with an opt-out status will result in the following message:

“This patient has requested non-participation in Florida SHOTS; no immunization information is available on this individual.”

For those opted-out:

• After 3/1/19, no provider - including the patient’s Current Immunization Provider - will have access to any pre-existing vaccination information in the Florida SHOTS registry. All immunizations, exemptions, contraindications, etc., will be removed and entering a new record for that patient will not be possible.

For patients choosing to opt back into Florida SHOTS:

• If opting-in is done before the date of record removal, there is a Department of Health form they may complete and provide to the Florida SHOTS help desk. Any prior record of vaccines, previously allowed entry into the registry, will be accessible.
• If they choose to opt-in after the date of record removal, they may do so; however, a new record must then be created, requiring the provider to have physical proof of all immunizations before they are added.

Should the patient choose to remain opted-out, it is recommended they maintain physical documented proof of immunizations. After 3/1/2019, opted-out patients may be asked to show proof of immunizations by physicians, schools, daycare centers, etc., and Florida SHOTS will no longer provide this information.

We ask that, should you become aware of any patients currently “opted-out” from Florida SHOTS, you please ensure they are aware of this policy and exactly what it entails.

Join us for this month’s live webinar sessions to help you prepare for the back-to-school rush! We will be demonstrating how to electronically certify the DH 680 form, create a Parent PIN that gives access to the parent/guardian to print 680 form from their personal computer, as well as the recent changes to the registry.

Click HERE to view the schedule and register!

Florida SHOTS recently made several updates and enhancements as part of release 2018.2. To view a summary of the changes, CLICK HERE.

Florida SHOTS provides the “Shots Recorded” totals to VFC providers when placing VFC vaccine orders on the inventory confirmation page. This total may not always match the totals entered in the “Doses Administered” column, and in many cases this is due to the lot number not being entered correctly in the patient record. The most common errors are entering extra characters and entering the letter “O” instead zeros. 

For users who are responsible for receiving new shipments in Florida SHOTS, it’s important to compare and confirm the lot numbers in the registry and on the actual vaccines before applying that receipt to your VFC inventory. If there are any differences, you can edit the information in Florida SHOTS before applying the receipt to your VFC inventory. And, remember: For Pentacel, MMR, VZV and Proquad, the lot number on the box should be used.

Click HERE to see steps on how to complete the edit or HERE for Spanish.

Have you noticed discrepancies between your "Doses Administered" and "Shots Recorded" columns on your VFC Order Request? Don't worry! Join us for an upcoming live webinar to understand how these totals are calculated and how to research, correct, and prevent any inventory problems!

Also, for offices who participate in data upload, we will also have a member of our Data Upload Team to provide steps you can take to ensure your data successfully transfers from your EHR to the registry.

Click HERE to view the schedule and register!