The use cases outlined below are intended to provide additional context and frame the needs that candidate standards must meet. The use cases here are summarized and excerpted from a discussion document of the Canada Health Infoway Immunization Interoperability Working Group[1].
These use cases do not make any assumptions about the setting in which care is being delivered (e.g. primary care physician’s office, mobile immunization clinic, hospital, etc.) or the means by which providers record the information (e.g. desktop EMR software, mobile device, tablet, etc.). It is preferred that candidate standards should, where possible, help to support and enable the delivery of care in any setting, and the viewing or recording of immunization data on any device.
UC-1 View Immunization History (No Forecast)
A provider reviews a patient’s immunization history for a purpose other than determining which vaccines a patient requires, examples:
- History is required for proof of immunizations (i.e. to print a ‘Yellow Card’) or to determine immunity for differential diagnosis
- Some applications may require that only a subset of vaccination history be returned/displayed (e.g. masking as a result of consent directives)
A patient views their own immunization history via a personal health record application
UC-2 View Immunization History (With Forecast)
A provider reviews a patient’s immunization history with a view to determining which vaccines the patient currently requires
- Once again, some applications may require that only a subset of vaccination history be returned/displayed (e.g. masking as a result of consent directives)
A patient views their own immunization history via a personal health record application, and wishes to know which vaccines they currently require
UC-3 Administer Immunization and Record Event
A provider administers an immunization to a patient and records the immunization
- The record will likely include information regarding the provider who administered the immunization and the location
- Some applications may require the ability to record informed consent
A patient records and immunization that was administered to them in a personal health record application
UC-4 Record Immunization History
A provider records one or more past immunization events as part of a history taking
- The record will likely include information regarding the provider who administered the immunization and the location
A patient records one or more past immunizations using a personal health record application
UC-5 Update Existing Immunization Record
A provider updates or changes an existing record of an immunization
A patient updates or changes an existing record of an immunization using a personal health record application
The information captured would be very similar to Administer Immunization and Record Event or Record Immunization History