Access Australian Immunisation Register information

A location AIR provider number is required for users without an individual provider number to access AIR data via the View AIR button.

See Add practice location details for more information.

If you do not yet have an AIR provider number at location level, you must complete and submit the Application to register as a vaccination provider form (IM004). You must send the completed form to your state or territory health department. Once your application has been approved by your state or territory health department, they will forward the application to Services Australia for processing.

If a provider does not have an individual provider number, and a location AIR provider number has not been supplied, and error message will appear when attempting to view AIR data.

Check which AIR information you have access to by clicking Check AIR access in the Immunisations section of the patient record.

1. Open the patient record for the patient you want to view or update AIR information for.
2. Select Immunisations from the left hand tree.



3. Click View AIR. The View AIR screen will appear.

If the minimum details for a patient to be accurately identified by the AIR have not been added to the patient demographic, an alert will appear indicating the details that need to be added to access and update the patient's AIR information in Bp Premier.

If Bp Premier is unable to retrieve information from the AIR, a message will appear in the View AIR screen indicating that immunisation details for the patient cannot be viewed at this time.

Because of the way that Services Australia matches records when Bp Premier sends a request to retrieve AIR information, it is unlikely but possible to request immunisation information for a child record that has limited demographic information recorded and receive information about the parent instead.

Best Practice Software recommend that the Medicare Number field for a child remain blank until the parents have registered the child with Medicare, and Medicare has given the child an identifying Reference Number, shown on the card.

If a practice records the parent’s Medicare Number and reference number in the child's record, and there are no distinguishing details recorded such as first name and Date of Birth, when View AIR is clicked in the child’s clinical record, Services Australia will match on the only information available and could return the parent record.

Before you use the View AIR function, ensure the child patient’s demographics are updated with the following information:

• Medicare Number and Reference Number
• Date of Birth
• First Name.

The View AIR screen will open at the General tab by default. the General tab displays:

• Patient alerts
• Patient information options
• Vaccines due.

Notifications about the patient will appear in the Alerts section.

Three options are available for updating patient information via the General tab. These options are:

The Vaccines due: section populates with the disease, dose, and due date for any required vaccinations. The vaccines due section will only display data if the patient is a child.

There is currently a known issue where if the patient has a special risk group alert recorded in the AIR, updating the patient's indigenous status will remove the special risk group alert. This issue is on the AIR end, and will be resolved by AIR.

In Orchid SP1 Revision 1, to accommodate the mandatory AIR Vaccination Encounter reporting changes that take effect on 1 March 2024, the View AIR > History tab has been updated to include the Route of Administration and the Vaccine Type. See Mandatory AIR Vaccination Encounter Reporting Changes from 1 March 2024 for more information.

1. Select the History tab in the View AIR screen to view the patient's immunisation history and save immunisations from the AIR to Bp Premier.
2. Any immunisations listed with the status Invalid will include a reason code and a message indicating why the immunisation is invalid.



3. To save an immunisation from the AIR to the patient record in Bp Premier, right-click the immunisation and select Save to patient record.



4. The immunisation will be saved to the Immunisations section of the patient record, with the Billing provider set to Not given here.

If the immunisation you wish to save to Bp Premier does not exist in the Bp Premier database, you will not be able to save the immunisation.

Download Immunisation History Statement

1. Click Get Individual Immunisation History Statement to download a copy of the patient's Immunisation History Statement.



2. The patient's Immunisation History Statement can be saved or printed as required.

The medical contraindications tab lists immunisations that the patient has been recorded as medically exempt from in the AIR, and allows you to send medical contraindications for patients to the AIR.

To add a Medical Contraindication for a patient:

1. In the Medical Contraindications tab, select Add Medical Exemption. The Add Medical Exemption screen will appear, with Medical Contraindication selected as the type of exemption.



2. From the Vaccine: menu, select the vaccine that you wish to add the medical contraindication for.
3. Indicate whether the medical contraindication is Permanent or Temporary.
4. Select a Reason: for the medical contraindication.
5. If the medical contraindication is permanent and the reason is Previous anaphylaxis, enter the Anaphylaxis Date. If the medical contraindication is temporary, select an end date.
6. Click Save & Send to send the medical contraindication to the AIR and add it to the medical contraindications list in Bp Premier.

The Natural Immunity tab lists any lab-confirmed or clinically diagnosed natural immunities for the patient that are recorded in the AIR. If the patient has natural immunity to a disease, you can also send a medical exemption to the AIR.

Natural immunities for the following diseases can be listed:

• Hepatitis B
• Measles
• Mumps
• Rubella
• Varicella.

To add a natural immunity for a patient:

1. In the Natural Immunity tab, select Add Medical Exemption. The Add Medical Exemption screen will appear, with Natural Immunity selected as the type of exemption.



2. From the Disease menu, select the disease that you wish to add a natural immunity for.
3. Enter the Test Date and Diagnosis Date for the natural immunity.
4. Click Save & Send to send the natural immunity to the AIR, and add it to the natural immunity list in Bp Premier.

The vaccine trials tab lists any vaccine trials recorded in the AIR that the patient is participating in.