Big win for eHealth at the Tech Excellence Awards 2022
The COVID-19 Vaccination Management System (Covax) was awarded Public Sector IT Project of the Year at the Tech Excellence Awards on 25th May 2022. This was a significant achievement in a category that included projects from An Garda Siochana, Failte Ireland and eHealth RPA Delivery team. A submission focussing on Covax Kiosk Mode was also shortlisted in the Digital Innovation category.
The objective of the Vaccination programme is to facilitate the scheduling and recording of Covid vaccinations for the population of Ireland as quickly and efficiently as possible and this could not have been done without a robust ICT System and technology infrastructure enabling and supporting the overall programme.
Covax is the HSE’s vaccine management system that has been used to support the administration of COVID-19 vaccinations. The system, based on Salesforce health platform, was configured to meet the requirements of the HSE. Extensive customisation resulted in an evolution from a Minimal Viable Product that went live in just 9 working days at the end of December 2020 to the robust vaccination platform that we have today. At its centre, is an electronic vaccination record for each citizen of Ireland encompassing their demographic details, vaccination history and vaccination status.
The project adopted a truly agile approach, with frequent sprint releases to deliver on rapidly evolving care pathways with extremely tight deadlines. A ‘one team’ collaborative approach comprising the wider eHealth team, clinicians, operations and suppliers, ensured a successful delivery of objectives. This partnership methodology enabled swift turnaround of software, fast resolution of issues and successful delivery of results.
To date, Covax contains 4.2m patient health records with individual health identifiers (IHI) to uniquely identify citizens, 10.8m immunisation records and this combined vaccination history record supports patient safety.
Collecting the award, Noreen Noonan, ICT Delivery Director for Public Health outlined that “This award is a significant recognition of the tireless efforts of the wider eHealth team who have worked together and focused on one outcome – enabling and supporting vaccinations. I am so proud that this project and that the work of the full team has been recognised”.
Photograph above shows Noreen Noonan, ICT Delivery Director for Public Health accepting the award.
Read more about ICT for Public Health here.