Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Vaccinating the entire U.S population: Health information technologies are positioned to help

Betty Rabinowitz, MD
Conditions
December 13, 2020
Share
Tweet
Share

The mammoth task of vaccinating most of the world’s human population against COVID-19 is before us. Several viable, highly effective vaccines have been developed at record speed. The pharmaceutical industry will now be called upon to meet the next challenge of producing the vaccine at scale by manufacturing the billions of required doses. A distribution and logistics challenge follows: how to equitably coordinate and execute the widespread distribution and administration of these vaccines, some of which require extremely cold temperatures to maintain viability. Scientists, logistics experts, ethicists, clinicians, epidemiologists, government agencies, private sector, and the public will have to collaborate for this vaccination effort to be successful. Many new technologies and new modalities have already been invented in the process of solving this urgent need, and many more innovations will be coming in the months ahead as this colossal project is undertaken.

Health information technology (HIT) has a role to play in the success of this endeavor. Multiple vaccine-related tasks will be facilitated with the assistance of evolved HIT systems.

Identifying who needs to be vaccinated with what priority

Mature population health platforms are designed first and foremost to create and manage cohorts of patients who share clinical or demographic common denominators. In this regard, they are extremely well-suited to identify patients at high risk for COVID complications based on clinical or comorbidity characteristics. Patients who decline vaccination can be excluded and flagged, as can patients who already tested positive for COVID in recent months or those already vaccinated. This process is highly dynamic and will require practices to manage shifting ever-changing populations efficiently and accurately.

Patient outreach and communication

Automated outreach to patients identified as high risk and requiring early vaccination can be facilitated by EHR and population health outreach programs utilizing multiple communication modalities based on the patient’s communication and language preferences. These systems also meticulously log and document outreach messages. It will be essential for practices to engage their patients early to increase awareness and acceptance of this new vaccine.

Documentation and tracking of immunization status

EHRs and population health tools have the toolset to allow documentation of each patient’s particular vaccine. Once the reporting requirements at the state and federal level become available, the mode of transfer of this data and the specific data elements can be determined. It is encouraging that at this time, there are multiple state vaccination registries for routine non-COVID vaccinations already receiving interfaced data from EHR systems across the country.

Identification of gaps in care for COVID vaccinated patients

Many patients deferred routine preventive care during the COVID pandemic. As patients become vaccinated and therefore at lower risk for contracting COVID, it will be important for population health systems to actively identify gaps in care among patients who have been vaccinated and actively outreach to these patients to complete the required and recommended preventive services. Similarly, reaching out to already vaccinated patients to attend to ongoing care for chronic conditions will be important to return patient confidence and engagement to pre-pandemic levels.

It is reassuring to know that once the details of the process by which the American public is going to be vaccinated is known, HIT platforms are ready to take on the required tasks.  Clearly, some adaptation to the specific requirements that the COVID vaccination project will impose will be necessary. Still, the required tasks are ones that these systems were built to address and have been utilized and honed with other vaccines and will serve this critically important mission well.

Betty Rabinowitz is chief medical officer, NextGen Healthcare. She can be reached on Twitter @DrBettyR.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

ADVERTISEMENT

Prev

Why eliminating health care disparities is easier said than done

December 13, 2020 Kevin 0
…
Next

Turn 2020 into an opportunity by changing your mindset [PODCAST]

December 13, 2020 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: COVID, Infectious Disease

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Why eliminating health care disparities is easier said than done
Next Post >
Turn 2020 into an opportunity by changing your mindset [PODCAST]

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Betty Rabinowitz, MD

  • The whole person care model is seeing its day in the sun

    Betty Rabinowitz, MD
  • The future of general internal medicine is bright

    Betty Rabinowitz, MD
  • Men’s mental health: We treat just the tip of the iceberg

    Betty Rabinowitz, MD

Related Posts

  • The unintended consequences of population health algorithms

    Betty Rabinowitz, MD
  • Are negative news cycles and social media injurious to our health?

    Rabia Jalal, MD
  • How social media can help or hurt your health care career

    Health eCareers
  • Sharing mental health issues on social media

    Tarena Lofton
  • Why whole person care is needed for better population health management

    Trisha Swift, DNP, RN
  • 3 ways to advance the credibility of online health information

    Robert Pearl, MD

More in Conditions

  • What a childhood stroke taught me about the future of neurosurgery and the promise of vagus nerve stimulation

    William J. Bannon IV
  • Facing terminal cancer as a doctor and mother

    Kelly Curtin-Hallinan, DO
  • Why doctors must stop ignoring unintentional weight loss in patients with obesity

    Samantha Malley, FNP-C
  • Why hospitals are quietly capping top doctors’ pay

    Dennis Hursh, Esq
  • Why point-of-care ultrasound belongs in emergency department triage

    Resa E. Lewiss, MD and Courtney M. Smalley, MD
  • Why PSA levels alone shouldn’t define your prostate cancer risk

    Martina Ambardjieva, MD, PhD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Why the heart of medicine is more than science

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • How Ukrainian doctors kept diabetes care alive during the war

      Dr. Daryna Bahriy | Physician
    • Why Grok 4 could be the next leap for HIPAA-compliant clinical AI

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How women physicians can go from burnout to thriving

      Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH | Physician
    • What a childhood stroke taught me about the future of neurosurgery and the promise of vagus nerve stimulation

      William J. Bannon IV | Conditions
    • Beyond burnout: Understanding the triangle of exhaustion [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Why the heart of medicine is more than science

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • How Ukrainian doctors kept diabetes care alive during the war

      Dr. Daryna Bahriy | Physician
    • Why Grok 4 could be the next leap for HIPAA-compliant clinical AI

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How women physicians can go from burnout to thriving

      Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH | Physician
    • What a childhood stroke taught me about the future of neurosurgery and the promise of vagus nerve stimulation

      William J. Bannon IV | Conditions
    • Beyond burnout: Understanding the triangle of exhaustion [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...