New Brunswick health officials will soon have a better way to track vaccine inventory, among other things.
The province is spending $12.5 million over four years on a new electronic health record system.
Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province’s chief medical officer of health, says the system will save money in terms of wastage by giving officials a more real-time inventory of vaccines.
Russell said they currently rely on a combination of paper-based and electronic records, which is cumbersome.
“There’s is an old system that’s used currently and we have Public Health nurses that input data into that to keep track of things,” said Russell. “But at the end of the day, it’s very fragmented and it’s very labour-intensive.”
New electronic health record system that aims to improve the management of vaccines, immunizations and potential disease outbreakshttps://t.co/R1ykJZPBJz pic.twitter.com/ELff6YQV8l
— Government of NB (@Gov_NB) January 15, 2019
Russell said the system will be rolled out in three phases, with phase one being the management of vaccines.
She said the second phase will give officials a better understanding of immunization uptake.
“This is huge because we will be able to have a much better picture of who’s being immunized with what immunizations, look at the uptake, look at the target populations, look at the gaps, and be able to address those more effective,” she said.
The third phase, Russell said, will allow them to better manage disease outbreaks as they happen by offering real-time tracking of information.
She said it will take about two years to fully implement the new system.
Story by Brad Perry
Twitter: @BradMPerry
Email: perry.brad@radioabl.ca
(Photo submitted by the Government of New Brunswick)
