Strategy
The Alaska Department of Health, Immunization Program, (AK DOH) established a data use agreement (DUA) with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) Tribal Epidemiology Center to share immunization data, which benefits all Alaskans.
Challenge
Alaska has overall low immunization coverage rates relative to national averages. While all vaccines administered in Alaska are required to be reported to the immunization information system (IIS), there have been limitations on what entities may access that information. Tribal Epidemiology Centers are designated as public health authorities and may be granted access to public health information for public health activities like surveillance, investigations, and interventions. ANTHC had a desire for access to AK DOH IIS immunization data for Alaskans, including American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) people. Without access to IIS immunization data, ANTHC relied on AK DOH fulfilling data requests, which are cumbersome for AK DOH staff and limits ANTHC’s ability for additional data analysis.
Solution
In 2023, ANTHC and AK DOH implemented a Data Use Agreement (DUA) to ensure data sharing from the Alaska IIS to ANTHC on an annual basis for three primary purposes:
- Conducting epidemiologic analysis including public health surveillance and program monitoring within the Alaska Tribal Health System.
- Providing aggregate data summaries on immunizations among Alaska Native people to inform Alaska community members, health service providers, Community Health Aides, administrators, and public health professionals of the circumstances of immunizations in Alaska.
- Other public health projects studying immunizations related to improving the health and equity of Alaska Native and American Indian people living in Alaska.
Outcome
The DUA between AK DOH and ANTHC has strengthened the relationship between these entities, benefiting the health of all Alaskans. In addition to ANTHC now having the independence to conduct their own analysis and evaluation of immunization efforts through the Alaska Tribal Health System, AK DOH and ANTHC also collaborates on data analysis projects. This includes refining the immunization goals in Healthy Alaskans 2030 and moving away from using National Immunization Survey data and instead using IIS data. AK DOH and ANTHC plan to work together for future immunization data dashboards that will be jointly published. Collaborating on epidemiological methods for immunization data analysis expands the skill set of staff for both programs and provides a strong foundation for future partnership.
Supplemental Materials