MIIS Helpdesk | P. 617-983-4335 | F. 857-323-8321 | miishelpdesk@mass.gov | www.miisresourcecenter.com | https://sso.hhs.state.ma.us

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Data Sharing in the MIIS

MIIS Legislation:

Legislation establishing the

MIIS (M.G.L. c. 111,

s.24M),

requires that healthcare

providers report all

immunizations

administered in

Massachusetts to the MIIS.

Providers must also inform

their patients (or parents/

guardians if 18 years or

younger) that their

immunization data is

reported to MIIS.

In turn, patients then have

the right to object to

sharing their immunization

data with other providers

using the MIIS.

Materials developed to help meet the requirement to inform patients are:

MIIS Factsheet for Parents and Patients (available in 7 languages) MIIS Posters (in English and Spanish) Sample Language for registration forms, letters, e-blast, or web postings

After learning about the MIIS, patients (or their parents or guardians, when applicable) may decide to object or withdraw a previous objection to sharing their (or their child's) immunization data with other providers in the MIIS. They will need to complete the following form:

Objection (or Withdrawal of Objection) Form

These materials are available for providers in the Resource Center on the

MIIS.

Informing Patients:

Patient Series

MINI GUIDE

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The Data Sharing Status field is found in the Patient Record Data Sharing Tab of the MIIS. It indicates whether a patient has been informed of the MIIS and understands their right to limit access to their immunization data in the system. All patients in the MIIS have a data sharing status of either Yes, No, or Unknown.

A Yes status means that the patient has been informed of the MIIS and allows all providers using the system access to their Patient Record. Upon creation of a new Patient Record, the data sharing status defaults to Yes.

A No status means that the patient has been informed of the MIIS and allows only providers who reported their immunizations access to their Patient Record (Objection (or Withdrawal of Objection Form) completed).

Data Sharing Status:

An Unknown status is reserved for historical Patient Records uploaded to MIIS, where the patient has not yet been informed about the MIIS. Once an Unknown status is changed to either

a Yes or a No it cannot be changed back to Unknown.

Important: Electronic data exchange sites:

Once your site has set a “Go Live” date and is exchanging current patient data and routinely informing patients about the MIIS, any prospectively administered

immunizations will automatically result in the MIIS setting the patient’s data sharing status to Yes. If the patient objects to data sharing, then an MIIS User must manually

update the status to No.

1 CONSOLIDATED

PATIENT RECORD

MULTIPLE

FRAGMENTED

PATIENT RECORDS

MULTIPLE

FRAGMENTED

PATIENT RECORDS

MULTIPLE

FRAGMENTED

PATIENT RECORDS

MULTIPLE

FRAGMENTED

PATIENT RECORDS

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Once informed of the MIIS, patients may request to change their data sharing status at any time. The following steps describe the procedure if a patient either objects to data sharing, or withdraws a previous objection in the MIIS:

Provide the MIIS Objection (or Withdrawal of Objection) Form to the patient or parent/guardian of the patient to complete.

After receiving the completed and signed form, login to the MIIS, search for the Patient Record and open the Data Sharing Tab.

Changing a Data Sharing Status:

Communicating the benefits of a consolidated record in the MIIS to your

patient will help them to make the best decision for themselves.

If the patient has objected, select the No radio button, update the Effective Date field to the date the form was completed, and click Save.

If the patient has withdrawn their previous objection, select the Yes radio button, update the Effective Date field to the date the form was completed, and click Save.

After changing the requested data sharing status in the MIIS, fax the completed and signed MIIS Objection (or Withdrawal of Objection) Form to the MIIS Help Desk at: 617-983-4301.

The patient’s privacy should

be priority. Please check

that the objection form has

been filled out completely

by both the patient and the

provider site to ensure the

fastest processing time.

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Each MIIS User or Patient Record can be associated with one or more Provider Site(s) in the MIIS in the following manner:

Your MIIS User account is associated with the Provider Site(s) under which you are registered for the MIIS.

A Patient Record is associated with the Provider Site(s) that reports immunization data for that patient to the MIIS.

All MIIS Users can access Patient Records with Data Sharing Status set to Yes. When a Patient Record has a Data Sharing Status set to No, the system uses the associations between the Provider Sites, MIIS Users and the Patient Record to determine which Patient Records a MIIS User can access.

In the graphic below, all Patient Records have the Data Sharing Status set to No. The connecting lines

indicate which Patient Records can be viewed by each MIIS User.

Changing a Data Sharing Status:

It is possible for a patient to have multiple records in the MIIS with a data sharing status of “Yes.” If this occurs check the Patient Deduplication queue to review possible

duplicate records that can be merged into a single record. Need help? Call the MIIS Helpdesk 617-983-4335