How Technology is Helping One Health System Distribute COVID-19 Vaccines

COVID-19 vaccine distribution has begun across the country. But government officials are not the only ones making difficult decisions about the logistics of vaccine rollout. Health system leaders must create strategies to inoculate their employee base and lay the groundwork for patient vaccination.

LifeBridge Health, a Maryland-based health system, is leveraging innovative technologies to assist vaccination efforts.

“We’re having to do business a little bit differently, which is why innovation is playing a bit more of a role,” LifeBridge Health Chief Innovation Officer, Daniel Durand, MD, said in a recent episode of Healthcare Strategies, an Xtelligent Healthcare Media podcast. “Every part of the process has a stamp of innovative technology.”

Durand discussed how technologies are assisting in three critical areas of vaccine distribution: patient engagement, appointment scheduling, and side effect monitoring.

To begin, the organization had to raise awareness among its employees about distribution efforts and vaccine safety.

“On the front end, we are producing and making use other types of content like YouTube to get the message out there about what the data says about this vaccine,” Durand said.

Once employees were engaged and decided to get the vaccine, LifeBridge Health needed a way to schedule appointments. Safety and social distancing regulations meant the old way of doing things would no longer be successful. Patients needed to be spread out between appointment times.

The need to keep the vaccine temperature-controlled added another layer. Administering providers had to ensure the proper amount of vaccine was thawed each day and none of the vaccine went to waste.

“You really have to know how much of it you’re going to have on hand if you want to make the best use of it and not waste a single dose,” Durand explained. “We’ve overcoming information failure using scheduling platforms. We have a process where there’s essentially no line after you book a specific appointment at a specific time.”

A scheduling system overcame both challenges as it avoided overcrowded waiting rooms and allowed providers to thaw the appropriate amount of vaccine, ensuring none was wasted.

The final step in vaccine distribution is monitoring for side effects and establishing reminders for the booster dose.

“Post dose, we have ongoing education and adherence monitoring,” Durand continued. “We have a mobile phone app that folks can choose to engage with that further educates them about the vaccine and monitors them for side effects.”

The mobile app serves two purposes: monitoring for side effects and reminding patients about the second does.

“At this point, everyone who is interested in being vaccinated in the entire health system has at least been able to make an appointment,” Durand boasted.

Technologies simplifying the process from start to finish are enabling this success. And success with LifeBridge Health’s employee base signals hope for its patient population. When large scale efforts to vaccinate the public begin, LifeBridge Health will be well equipped to aid in these efforts and vaccine their over one million patients.  

Listen to the full podcast to hear more details. And don’t forget to subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.