eClinicalWorks Launches COVID-19 Vaccine EHR Solution

eClinicalWorks announced it has developed and integrated a COVID-19 vaccine EHR solution, Vaccine Administration Management Solution (VAMS), into workflows across 29 states to help clinicians distribute the COVID-19 vaccine.

Easy access to COVID-19 vaccine appointment scheduling and communication are two key areas of vaccine distribution.

The solution integrates with the eClinicalWorks EHR or the user can leverage it as a stand-alone solution at a health system, practice, or vaccination clinic. According to the vendor, integration can occur within two days.

“With more than 814 million COVID-19 vaccine shots already administered worldwide and many more on the horizon, the eClinicalWorks team is working hard to ensure healthcare providers are fully supported in the continued distribution by optimizing workflow,” said Girish Navani, CEO and co-founder of eClinicalWorks.

With communication and vaccination management being two vital components of COVID-19 vaccine distribution, the vendor said it developed the solution to target those key areas, plus more.

VAMS aims to help the patient by granting automated appointment reminders through text message and a contactless appointment check-in that includes questionnaires and patient consent forms, the vendor noted. It also provides the clinician with relevant EHR patient data to streamline the vaccination process and HIPAA-compliant EHR documentation of all administered vaccines.

Per CDC guidelines, the certificate must include the manufacturer, the vaccination date, and the vaccination location. Once the patient schedules a second appointment for either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, she must bring the certificate to ensure accurate patient matching and the correct second dosage.

Following the second appointment, the solution automatically transmits the data to the state vaccine registry.

Patient matching is crucial to patient safety. Those administering the vaccine must analyze patient data to deploy an effective and accurate vaccination strategy. Providers must know if a patient has received a vaccine to allow for a coordinated rollout.

Accurate patient matching ensures the correct patient will receive the correct vaccine and the patient will get the correct number of doses for that specific vaccine.

Through March, eClinicalWorks technology has played a role in administering over 133,752 vaccine doses across 29 states.

 “We are hopeful to be looking toward the finish line of this long pandemic marathon that the world has run this past year and are humbled to be a part of the solution,” Navani said.

eClinicalWorks joined a list of EHR vendors that have developed an EHR-integrated COVID-19 vaccine solution.

In February, 175 COVID-19 vaccination sites leveraged Cerner’s Mass Vaccination EHR solution to help clinicians identify, register, and vaccinate patients.

When COVID-19 began to spread in early 2020, the EHR vendor reached out to its customers across the country to ensure they had the necessary health IT to prepare for a large-scale COVID-19 vaccination effort.

Cerner then provided its customers with its Mass Vaccination solution to increase vaccination deployment speeds, boost patient care, and help users with administration documentation.

The solution aims to help clinicians register patients and then identify, administer, and document the COVID-19 vaccine.

In January, MEDITECH launched its COVID-19 Vaccination EHR solution, intending to streamline COVID-19 vaccine administration across health systems.

The web-based solution aims to help health systems increase vaccine distribution speed and mobility in areas across the country that are hit hardest by the pandemic, along with pop-up hospitals, the vendor noted.

Health IT professionals can integrate the solution directly into the EHR workflow and clinicians can access it through any menu that is chosen for integration. In order to mitigate clinician burden and expand the number of patients seen, the solution defaults to critical vaccine and administration data. This default decreases EHR documentation for the clinician.