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UNMC receives grant that will allow pharmacies to help track patient vaccinations

With more and more people getting immunizations at their local pharmacies, having access to accurate records about who needs what can be challenging.   

A $300,000 grant received by the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health and College of Pharmacy from the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, will be used in conjunction with Hy-Vee pharmacies in Nebraska and Iowa to help with that tracking. 

Dr. Nizar Wehbi, Acting Deputy Director of the Center for Health Policy and Assistant Professor in the UNMC College of Public Health, says that Hy-Vee pharmacies will receive I-M-M-S-LINK computer software by Scientific Technologies Corporation, which will allow access to state immunization databases.

"And they can see, well, John Smith doesn’t have the flu vaccine, and he doesn’t have Pneumococcal vaccine, so then the pharmacist can suggest and propose these vaccines to the patient, or the customer in that case.  So, if the person decides to take these vaccinations, then the pharmacist can, in the same system, log that information that will be automatically transferred to the state.”

Wehbi says that although Nebraska ranked 10th, and Iowa 22nd on the 2015 America’s Health Ranking Report, when it comes to adult immunization rates, Nebraska ranked 41st and Iowa 45th.  

He hopes this pilot project dramatically increases adult immunization rates in the two states and feels it may become a national model.

More information is available at unmc.edu.