PCN Roving Delivery Model Blueprint: Automating the scheduling of winter vaccines to housebound patients

Traditional vaccine scheduling for housebound patients is complex and can create a significant administrative and clinical workload for primary care organisations.

GP Federation Conexus Healthcare engaged with Doc Abode to help streamline the co-ordination of its vaccination programme for housebound and care home patients in Wakefield with an initial deployment to Health Care First network.

Using intelligent automation, Doc Abode delivered efficiencies in the vaccination scheduling process, freeing up administrative and clinical staff to deliver core primary care services.

For healthcare providers, each organisation has a real-time view of schedules and the ability to easily re-assign or reschedule appointments in the event of short notice cancellation from staff or patients due to sickness / self-isolation.

Clinicians are kept informed of their schedule through a secure app which also included notifications of appointment changes.

“Coordinating the vaccination of 1500 care home residents and staff plus 800+ housebound patients is extremely time consuming. By using the Doc Abode app, we turned 10 days’ work into one simple click!” David Lighten, Community Nurse Practitioner, Health Care First.

 

Time-saving features within the Doc Abode platform include:

Intelligent caseload management

Real-time, automated scheduling of patients to the available workforce based on: Staff availability, vial size, traffic conditions, start / end locations, dosing schedules / minimum intervals between doses and patient preferences.

Route optimisation

To ensure the greatest number of vaccinations were delivered in the available time of each vaccinator, minimising vaccine wastage

Automated follow up

Second and third dose appointment schedules were automatically created based on the NHS ‘COVID-19 local vaccination services deployment in community settings’ roving and mobile models standard operating procedures.

Patient stratification

Patients were filtered and prioritised according to vaccine prioritisation e.g., >80yrs in a care home.

Communication tools

Bulk messaging to patients to inform of appointment times and verify identity of visiting vaccinator.

The rapid deployment of Doc Abode created immediate efficiencies and impact including:.

  • 98% reduction in time taken to organise and assign caseloads, manage logistical problems and communicate with patients
  • Centralising administration to reduce resource requirements from 8 WTE to 5 WTE, freeing up staff to be redeployed to core services
  • Scalable delivery of the full winter vaccination programme including Covid-19 boosters, flu, pneumococcal and shingles to eligible patients
  • Winner of the Innovation in General Practice Award at the Wakefield General Practice Awards 2021

“Administrators and clinicians across the network have welcomed the introduction of Doc Abode to reduce the operational burden they initially experienced with the Covid-19 vaccination roll out. Delivering the 1st and 2nd Covid-19 vaccinations was time consuming enough but with one eye on the additional winter vaccination programmes, including co-administration of the flu vaccine, we wanted to explore how technology outside of the traditional EPR system could deliver efficiencies for the benefit of the practices, clinicians and patients in both the short and long term. Doc Abode delivered on every level.”

Antony Nelson MD of Conexus

 

You can download and share the full case study here

If you’re interested in discussing your vaccination programme requirements, please get in touch on either 0300 033 1800 or email info@docabode.com