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Anthem, CloudMedx bringing COVID-19 tracking tool to vaccine distribution

Anthem and CloudMedx are adding vaccine distribution data to their online COVID-19 data platform.

The two companies joined forces to launch C19 Explorer last summer, and that tool allows public health officials and employers to track the spread of the virus and predict its potential impacts based on personalized data they upload into the system.

The new C19 Vaccine tool brings that same mindset to vaccine distribution and tracking, allowing users to track vaccinations among certain populations and plan for specific outreach opportunities depending on need.

Tashfeen Suleman, CEO of CloudMedx, told Fierce Healthcare that an example of this in action would be a public health agency using embedded flu vaccine data to determine which communities need additional outreach to get vaccinated.

Those data would allow organizations to then design vaccine drives and other efforts to target specific geographies or populations, he said.

Anthem and CloudMedX are also looking to roll out ways for the public to use the tool to determine when and where they can get vaccinated, Suleman said.

Rajeev Ronanki, chief digital officer at Anthem, told Fierce Healthcare that while the initial C19 tool was designed for employer clients, public health organizations and other groups, the platform drew significant interest and use from consumers as well, so including elements to assist them in accessing a vaccine was a logical inclusion.

“Initially, we thought this would be more of a business-oriented digital asset, but it turned out to be an equally user-friendly, consumer-friendly asset,” Ronanki said.

He said that consumers using the tool led the team to really think about the key questions they would have to allow it to be something people can use to “simplify” their health.

Suleman said many consumers are expecting their health plans or physicians to direct them to a vaccine site when it’s their turn, but this would allow them to be more proactive in seeking a vaccine.

C19 Explorer also includes significant data on the social determinants of health, and the team is mulling ways it can harness that information in a vaccine capacity as well. C19 Vaccine may soon offer data on vaccine outcomes and the impact on social determinants, for example.

The companies are also considering ways to harness vaccine data to track the shots’ effectiveness among high-risk populations.

Read the article here.