Sigma Healthcare's Amcal and Guardian pharmacies have partnered with Australian consumer healthcare platform Healthengine to deploy a COVID-19 booking system.

The Healthengine Patient Appointment Management System (PAMS) offers COVID-19 bookings for AstraZeneca and Moderna jabs, as well as appointment settings for other health services. 

WHY IT MATTERS

Their partnership comes as Australia is ramping up vaccinations through the support of community pharmacies.

As part of their partnership, Amcal and Guardian have been included in Healthengine's directory of healthcare providers, allowing them to offer appointments via its marketplace and connecting them to its 4.3 million users.

THE LARGER CONTEXT

Various booking platforms to assist the federal government's COVID-19 vaccination drive have been rolled out across the country's health system.

In the early days of its vaccination drive, Barwon Health worked with IT firm Circle T in developing the CovaxApp, a vaccine booking and administration tool, that had enabled the administration of over 140,000 COVID-19 vaccines and assisted in inoculating 3,000 persons daily during peak times.

In July, Melbourne-based HotDoc said it has provided Austin Hospital with a complete scheduling solution for COVID-19 vaccine appointments.

Healthdirect Australia, the country's national public health information service, put up in September an offer for booking service providers to provide online booking systems at vaccine clinics which would be integrated with the Vaccine Clinic Finder, the federal government's vaccine clinic search and booking portal. The integration of the portal with more clinics, it said, will make it easier for Australians to find their preferred vaccination clinic and book an appointment, reducing the need to telephone clinics and search multiple booking platforms.

ON THE RECORD

"Building on our background of supporting healthcare providers including GPs, dentists, allied health practitioners and specialists, bringing Sigma’s extensive network of community pharmacies to PAMS and Healthengine’s marketplace will further support the consumer’s healthcare journey and help provide more access points to assist with Australia’s COVID-19 vaccination effort," Healthengine co-founder, Medical Director and CEO Dr Marcus Tan said.

"Via this new and exciting partnership, we are delighted to offer our retail partners best-in-class scheduling and appointment management systems to help our busy teams make the most of their days – and deliver strengthened customer value," Kurt O’Brien, head of Amcal and Guardian, also stated.