Microsoft on Friday announced new technology to assist with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout throughout the country.

The product is reportedly an effort to improve upon the software giant's Vaccine Registration and Application System, released earlier this year.  

"As we evolve our solutions and bring in key learning from previous vaccination implementations, today we are introducing Microsoft Vaccination Management, which enables governments and public health agencies, healthcare organizations, and vaccination sites … to set up and manage vaccination sites, inform the public, schedule vaccinations, automate mass vaccination sites and monitor outcomes," wrote Microsoft Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Rhew and VP of business applications solutions engineering Satish Thomas in a blog post.

WHY IT MATTERS  

Microsoft's earlier tool, the Vaccine Registration and Application System, ran into several high-profile hurdles in New Jersey and Washington.   

According to Bloomberg's Dina Bass, the new Microsoft Vaccine Management system aims to address those issues, including requiring users to preregister before trying to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine appointment.  

The tool "incorporates lessons learned from [the Vaccine Registration and Application System] regarding scalable architecture [and] improved user experiences for residents and health care workers," Microsoft representatives said in an email to Bass.  

It includes a registration and booking portal, a frontline worker app to allow for streamlined check-in, and a reporting dashboard to track performance metrics. It uses healthcare standards for information transfer to allow data to be exported more quickly to other record systems, including electronic health records.  

"Built on Microsoft Power Platform, Microsoft Vaccination Management helps healthcare providers roll out vaccination programs reliably while scaling and adapting to meet their community’s needs as vaccination capacity and demand changes over time," wrote Rhew and Thomas.

THE LARGER TREND  

Microsoft is among several tech companies that have stepped in to partner with public health agencies in an attempt to combat the COVID-19 crisis.  

Earlier this week, Google Cloud revealed how it has been helping five different states with their vaccine rollout strategy. Meanwhile, Zocdoc teamed up with Chicago to offer its vaccine scheduler to residents of the major metropolis.   

But glitches have also hampered efforts throughout the nation, leading to frustration and desperation for individuals trying to get inoculated.    

ON THE RECORD  

"Alongside the healthcare industry, state and local governments, school districts and others, Microsoft is innovating solutions to not only improve immediate vaccination efforts but to contribute to global healthcare modernization and impact for years to come," wrote Rhew and Thomas.

Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Twitter: @kjercich
Email: kjercich@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.