How to Complete the California CAIR Duplicate Record Correction Form

The CAIR Duplicate Record Correction Form is an online form that lets an authorized California Immunization Registry user ask the CAIR2 Help Desk to merge two patient records into one. You fill it out at cairforms.cdph.ca.gov, certify that both records belong to the same patient, and email it to the help desk for processing.¹ The merge cannot be undone, so the submitting provider is responsible for confirming the two records are the same person before sending the request.²

Who Can Submit the Form

The form is for healthcare providers and other authorized CAIR2 users. You need an active CAIR Org ID and CAIR Username to complete it, which means a patient or parent cannot submit it on their own behalf.²

State-level CAIR users have a separate internal Merge Patients screen that lets them pick specific data fields from each record during the merge. Provider-level users do not have access to that tool and should use the Duplicate Record Correction Form instead.³

What to Gather Before You Open the Form

An incomplete submission will not be processed, so collect everything first. You will need your own information as the requestor: full name, telephone number, email address, CAIR Org ID, and CAIR Username.

For each of the two records, you need the CAIR ID, the patient’s first name, the patient’s last name, and the date of birth exactly as they appear in the registry. The CAIR IDs are the piece that matters most. If you do not know them, search for the patient in CAIR2 by name and date of birth; when the search returns two results for the same person, note both ID numbers.²

Decide which record survives before you start typing. The form treats one record as Record A (the “good” record that remains after the merge) and the other as Record B (the duplicate that gets rolled into Record A). Choose the more complete and accurate profile as Record A.

How to Fill Out and Submit the Form

Open the form at cairforms.cdph.ca.gov. There is no paper version. You can reach it through the CAIR Forms page on the CDPH website.¹

Enter your requestor information, then the four data points for Record A and the four for Record B. Verify the CAIR IDs digit by digit. A transposed number could merge the wrong patient’s history into your patient’s record, and the help desk cannot reverse the merge once it is done.

At the bottom of the form, check the box certifying that both records belong to the same patient under your care and that you are requesting the merge. Type your full name and the date as your electronic signature. The authorization is valid for 90 days once signed.²

Email the completed form to the CAIR2 Help Desk at CAIRHelpDesk@cdph.ca.gov. You can also reach the help desk by phone at 800-578-7889 or by fax at 888-436-8320. Help desk hours are Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., excluding government holidays.⁴

What Happens After You Submit

The CAIR2 team reviews the request and performs the merge if the information checks out. After the merge, Record B’s CAIR ID no longer returns results in the system, and the full vaccination history from both profiles appears under Record A.⁵

If the combined record contains overlapping entries, such as two flu shots recorded on the same date, the help desk evaluates whether one is a duplicate entry that should be removed. CDPH does not publish a guaranteed turnaround time. If a few weeks pass with no confirmation and the records still appear separate, follow up by emailing CAIRHelpDesk@cdph.ca.gov or calling 800-578-7889, and include your original submission details so the team can find your request.¹

Once you receive confirmation, pull the patient’s record in CAIR2 and verify that the combined vaccination history is complete and correct. Schools and childcare programs using the School and Childcare Roster Lookup (SCRL) tool will see the corrected record reflected in their compliance checks.⁶

If You Are a Patient Who Spotted a Duplicate

Patients and parents cannot submit the Duplicate Record Correction Form directly. If a school flagged your child’s immunization status as incomplete, or a provider mentioned conflicting files, contact your healthcare provider and ask them to request the merge.¹

California law gives every patient, or a parent or guardian acting for a minor, the right to examine any immunization-related information in the registry and to correct errors in it.⁷ Ask your provider to pull your CAIR record, review it with you, and fix inaccuracies such as misspelled names, wrong dates of birth, or incorrect vaccine entries. Under 45 CFR 164.526, if a covered entity denies your request to amend protected health information, you can submit a written statement of disagreement, which the entity must attach to the record and include with future disclosures of that information.⁸

1
California Department of Public Health. CAIR Forms
2
CAIR. Duplicate Multiple Record Correction
3
CAIR. Merge Patient Screen (State Users Only)
4
California Department of Public Health. CAIR Help Desk
5
California Department of Public Health. CAIR User FAQs
6
County of Santa Clara Public Health. Immunization Resources for School and Childcare Entry
7
California Legislative Information. Health and Safety Code 120440 – Disclosure of Immunization Status
8
eCFR. 45 CFR 164.526 – Amendment of Protected Health Information