2021 has kicked off with new hope thanks to the COVID-19 vaccine. Two multi-dose vaccine options are currently available with single dose formulations likely to be approved soon. The CDC has provided vaccine phase recommendations, the initial doses have been distributed to states, and administration is well underway.
Although vaccine distribution to states has gone smoothly, vaccine administration efforts have varied from state to state, some with many hiccups. State and local government health departments, as well as hospital systems, had little time to prepare given the short time frame between CDC recommendations for phase definitions and the initial delivery of the vaccine. As Phase 1a plans rolled in December, organizational and operational issues were expected, and realized. Never has there been an ‘ask’ of healthcare organizations as complicated as this.
Let’s frame this challenge up with a personal story...
My 80 year old parents live in Florida. The local county HHS announced that people over 65 could register online through their local government website starting on a Sunday, and that vaccine administration would begin the next day. It didn’t go well. The website crashed in 15 minutes. The following morning they decided to instead ask citizens to call the front office. So I, along with 250,000 of my parents elderly neighbors, began calling the health department for a vaccine appointment. Twelve hours later, the program was shut down while county officials regrouped. Frantic demand, meet legacy healthcare technology systems.
We need to accelerate vaccinations
One thing we know for certain is that accelerating vaccinations can help save lives and is critical to opening the country and economy. The key to acceleration is making healthcare providers faster and more efficient with better scheduling and screening tools.
Solv gained our experience in high volume scheduling by helping with mass population COVID testing shortly after the outbreak began. To date we have scheduled over 5M COVID test appointments, some at sites that see up to 4000 patients a day. Thousands of hospital systems, government organizations, private practices, urgent care centers, private practices, and community pop-up sites have leveraged Solv technology to support their testing initiatives.
While Solv continues to support comprehensive testing programs, the natural extension is to bring the same scaling capabilities to vaccination efforts nationwide. That is why Solv has committed to supporting the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine through state and local government partnerships, as well as hospitals, health systems, and urgent care centers.
Introducing Solv for Vaccines
Solv’s high volume vaccination solution allows healthcare organizations to scale their programs to meet the needs of each phase of the COVID vaccine simplifying vaccine logistics and allowing thousands of vaccines to be delivered in a single day at a single site. It addresses the end-to-end workflow needs of a vaccine center.
Key features include:
- Eligibility Pre-Screening. Prior to scheduling a vaccination, patients are prescreened for eligibility, reducing the administrative burden on clinical staff and allowing vaccination sites to manage the CDC recommended phased distribution approach.
- Online Self-Scheduling. Eligible patients self select appointment times online, helping keep wait times short and optimizing the schedule.
- Call Center Scheduling. The Solv call center dashboard improves equitable community access by allowing staff to schedule vaccinations over the phone, across multiple sites.
- Reminders and Rescheduling. Text messages remind patients about their visit, and help reschedule or cancel the appointment online, if necessary. Reminders reduce no-shows and maximize appointment availability.
- Paperless Registration. Customizable registration information is collected online. Digital paperwork with consent is available ahead of the visit, saving data entry time and increasing clinic efficiency.
- Contactless Check-in. Patients use their mobile device to notify the clinic of their arrival and use the virtual waiting room to view their place in line.
- Multi-dose Scheduling. Second-doses are quickly scheduled using existing patient data, saving manual work and automating reminders for the future appointment.
- IIS Reporting. Immunization records are automatically reported to the state's immunization registry saving time for your clinical team.
Solv’s reliability and scalability are well proven and we’ve already assisted in the delivery of tens of thousands of vaccine doses through partners such as the City of Seattle, King County, Washington, and Swedish Health Services.
“Vaccinating thousands of patients every day requires complex logistics and tight management of scheduling,” says Kevin Brooks, COO of Swedish Health Services. “Solv allows us to dynamically match our vaccine capacity with our schedule and communicates updates with patients to reduce appointment no-shows and deliver a great experience for patients.”
And, of course, Solv is easy-to-use for everyone, regardless of age or access to technology. Scheduling a visit takes less than a minute with no logins required or long forms to complicate things. Additionally, a call center dashboard provides increased community access through easy scheduling over the phone.
As more and more of the US population become eligible for the vaccine, local health departments and health systems need to have a highly efficient, patient centric strategy for streamlining workflow and meeting vaccination goals. Mass COVID-19 vaccination has presented government agencies and healthcare workers with the difficult challenge of scaling operations to treat thousands of patients each day. At Solv, we're seeing how the hard work and commitment of providers and public health officials paired with modern, simple and reliable technology can play a key role increasing the speed of vaccinations.
If you’re interested in learning more about Solv for Vaccines, contact us.
