Interpath, the Research Triangle Park, N. C.-based application and integration services provider, yesterday announced it is collaborating with the North Carolina Healthcare Information and Communications Alliance, Inc. (NCHICA) to provide healthcare providers with access to critical state immunization records.
Helping to both develop and deploy the Provider Access to Immunization Registry Securely pilot project (PAiRS), together with several other NCHICA members, Interpath is currently hosting the PAiRS database on a secure server at the Interpath Operations Center.
“NCHICA is very pleased to have the involvement of Interpath and its knowledgeable staff as the project was planned and implemented,” says Holt Anderson, Executive Director of NCHICA. “Access to childhood immunization records via a secure, convenient and affordable connection will improve the health of our children and pave the way to a fully functional, statewide registry in the future,” he says.
“The PAiRS project is an important factor in protecting a child’s health by providing a tool to clinicians that enables them to more accurately determine what immunization services their patients need,” says Joel Schleicher, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Interpath, who adds that he is proud of Interpath’s participation in the collaboration with NCHICA and of the benefit it provides to the citizens of North Carolina.
In June, 2001, the NCHICA received an Award of Appreciation from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) for its significant contribution and support of the PAiRS Project.
Says Mary Beth Lister, Immunization Registry Project Manager of the Immunization Branch of NCDHHS: “The opportunity to explore the use of the Internet to deliver clinicians secure access to immunization records through this real-life demonstration project has proven invaluable as we work towards developing a statewide immunization registry system.”
Interpath has been working on the project since 1998 and there are currently over 60 provider sites now using the system.
