The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and its community of digital health professionals have offered recommendations focused on two areas in vaccine distribution. The areas of focus that were recommended are immediate actions and longer-term plans on how to maximize the role of digital health in vaccine distribution and administration.
The team of digital health experts behind the COVID-19 policy recommendations includes those working in public health, primary and secondary healthcare delivery, health information exchange, health IT software development, and governmental agencies.Â
WHY IT MATTERS
The policy states that maximizing health information and technology to develop strategies, and the value provided by these professionals in tackling COVID-19, is critical to building post-pandemic recovery, and in particular, accelerating vaccine distribution and administration.
Building on actions for improving global healthcare, HIMSS aims to reinforce the importance of these steps and pledge their support to work with every nation, along with multinational organizations, such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The recommendations for immediate actions include:
- Capitalize on health information and technology and data systems to support robust, globally coordinated, comprehensive COVID-19 vaccination plans.
- Exercise regulatory flexibilities and enforcement discretion to ease the burden.
- Adopt an “all-hands-on-deck” approach to vaccine distribution and administration.
- Emphasize the importance of interoperability and data sharing in the broader vaccination effort.
The longer-term plans include:
- Generate digital vaccination credentials for individuals.
- Establish a formal feedback loop for COVID-19 related tools and technologies.
- Develop a national patient identification strategy.
