Sign up for COVID Vaccine at UCHealth. (The EHR is our superpower).

UCHealth, like all health systems across the state of Colorado, are following the guidance of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). As the guidelines change (sometimes daily!) we follow the guidelines. Our supply of COVID-19 Vaccine is closely tracked, and each next shipment depends on our adherence to guidelines.

The change

We are now opening up vaccination signups to segments of the general public beyond health care workers. See the CDPHE guidelines here: https://covid19.colorado.gov/for-coloradans/vaccine/vaccine-for-coloradans. Based on the state’s plan, UCHealth is focusing efforts on vaccinations for people 70 years old and older. You do not need to be a UCHealth patient in order to get vaccinated.  

Here is how it works

Keep in mind that most health systems in Colorado are working on vaccine distribution. Please first check with your primary care provider or primary health system. For those over 70 with interest in getting their vaccine from UCHealth,

1. We will use My Health Connection, the patient portal for UCHealth’s electronic health record, to communicate with people. If you have an active My Health Connection account, you will automatically receive updates regarding the vaccine. If you do not have an active My Health Connection account, please create one to receive these updates. To learn more and create an account, go to www.uchealth.org/covidvaccine.

2. Over 80% of patients at UCHealth have a MHC account, and we’ll be using our Electronic Health Record (EHR) to determine our patients who meet the criteria for vaccine (currently, using date-of-birth to calculate age 70+).
3. You DON’T have to be an existing UCHealth patient or be seeing a UCHealth provider to create an MHC account and to indicate your interest in the COVID-19 Vaccine.
4. You WILL need to have an email address and be able to access the patient portal yourself. You may have a proxy (trusted designee) sign up for you; keep in mind that this proxy would also potentially have access to your UCHealth electronic health records as well.
5. At this time, we do not have enough vaccine doses to offer it to everyone. As UCHealth receives shipments of the vaccine, we are providing it as quickly as possible, according to the state’s plan. As we receive additional quantities of vaccine, we will send vaccination invitations through our randomized selection process to give everyone the same chance of receiving a vaccine.
6. When vaccine becomes available to your phase of distribution, you will receive an invitation from My Health Connection with instructions about how to schedule your vaccine appointments. Please be patient until you see the message titled “Urgent: Schedule your COVID-19 vaccine”. When you receive this message, you will be able to schedule both vaccine doses. You will have 48 hours to get your appointments scheduled. If you miss the 48-hour time frame, you will receive a new opportunity to schedule in a future distribution phase. 
7. An appointment is required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine; walk-ins cannot be accommodated.
8. For the most current information regarding COVID-19 vaccines, go to the COVID-19 vaccine page on the UCHealth website.

The EHR is our superpower

This process has worked well for our first 37,000 COVID-19 vaccinations, and we plan on scaling up further, as vaccine availability improves.

Some may criticize us for using an electronic patient portal and perhaps leaving out those without access to the internet. (I have even heard the term “digitalism.” However, looking that up, it seems to mean “being poisoned by digitalis from the foxglove plant.” Hmm. But we digress.)

At the same time, we’re putting plans in place to ensure that those without access to a computer or smartphone also have access to the vaccine. Through phone hotlines, clinics that target low-income areas of the state, and outreach to underserved communities, we aim to provide the vaccine fairly to everyone. Some of these efforts have already begun.

Our main point from using our patient portal was that, using our existing infrastructure where we already have nearly 1 million patients, we could move quickly, filter our patients by age, and create and send invitations thousands at a time. This contrasts with those who might have to postal-mail invitations or make phone calls and set up (and staff-up!) a phone bank, that could take days and weeks. 

We launched the invitation and scheduling process over one weekend (thank you and sorry to our IT and project leaders who built this) and offered vaccines the next weekday after receipt of our first batch. I’m so grateful to work with such amazing colleagues and their amazing teams, and grateful that we have an existing information technology infrastructure that allows this. The EHR is our superpower.

News items

Fox31 news (patients 70+): https://kdvr.com/news/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine/uchealth-patients-over-70-start-getting-vaccinated/

The Coloradoan: https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2021/01/05/covid-19-colorado-next-up-vaccine-heres-what-know/4127958001/

9news (mass vaccination): https://www.9news.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/vaccine/colorado-hospital-systems-get-ready-for-mass-vaccinations/73-3f1a2fbb-df90-4007-8f1d-35c372c71414

KOAA news (mobile clinic):
https://www.koaa.com/news/covering-colorado/uc-health-goes-mobile-with-covid-19-vaccine-in-colorado-springs

UCHealth mobile vaccine clinic: https://www.uchealth.org/today/older-adults-receive-covid-19-vaccine-at-home-through-mobile-clinic/

UCHealth older adult vaccine news: https://www.uchealth.org/today/older-adults-rejoice-as-they-begin-getting-coronavirus-vaccines/

CMIO’s take? We are excited to be part of the solution for our community throughout Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region!