How To Add Immunizations In Epic

EHR behemothic Epic has launched a Covid-19 vaccine credentialing feature that patients tin access via their MyChart patient portal.

Like to a newspaper vaccination card, the Epic vaccine credential binds an individual's identity — that is, their proper noun and appointment of birth — with their Covid-xix vaccination or lab event information. The credential presents as a QR code inside a person'south MyChart account. They tin then use the code, either straight from their smartphone or printed out from their calculator, to verify their vaccine condition when needed.

"What nosotros are trying to exercise is provide an option…for patients to feel safe and secure," said Nick Frenzer, implementation executive at Verona, Wisconsin-based Ballsy, in a phone interview. "What we're doing is we're tying your name, the vaccine lot information that you received and your date of nascency then that information technology can be verified against an ID and that'south it. It doesn't requite any more access to your medical record; it doesn't give whatever more personal information."

The vaccination credential has been bachelor since June 29, but information technology took a few weeks to get the characteristic up and running amidst customers. The Academy of California San Diego was the get-go to pilot the program.

Currently, 25 million people have access to the vaccine credential inside their MyChart portal. Epic aims to extend the credential to 70 or eighty one thousand thousand by the terminate of the year and 100 million by 2022, Frenzer said.

The credential was born out of Ballsy's piece of work with the Vaccination Credential Initiative, which launched at the beginning of the year. The coalition included several loftier-profile organizations, including Mitre, Microsoft and Mayo Clinic.

Together, the coalition adult a technical vaccine credential design with two goals in heed: make it easy for patients to use and brand certain it keeps information secure, Frenzer said. From at that place, they created a specification that is a technology-agnostic, standards-based communication method that all the coalition members take access to.

Epic then coded the specification into its patient portal then it could be used to access the QR code that can exist verified by a digital reader.

"Nosotros've done all the coding and all the prep work, and then for our customers, all they need to practice is…a unproblematic update and load that in their system," Frenzer said. "It takes a twenty-four hours or then and then information technology turns on for the patient without any action needed by [by the provider]."

After a provider has verified a patient's vaccine status — whether from their ain records or from the state's immunization database in cases where the patient was vaccinated at a retail health location or other vaccination sites — it is incorporated into the medical record. In one case the provider "switches on" the vaccine credential feature, the patient volition be able to see the QR code in their portal.

But what nearly those who don't accept easy access to engineering science?

Ballsy developers had to be mindful of the fact that non everyone has a smartphone, estimator or even internet access. In these cases, doctors' offices can print out the credential for patients that may not be able to get it in any other way.

"Nosotros had to make certain this [feature] was socially equitable," Frenzer said. "You tin go it on a slice of paper without access to any applied science."

Photo: Matt Debnar from Ballsy

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Source: https://medcitynews.com/2021/09/epic-deploys-covid-19-vaccine-credential-feature/

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