A Flu Clinic for a New Era

This project was recognized with an  Esri Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award  at the 2021 Esri User Conference.

In 2020, Carlton County met the challenge of a lifetime – navigating the COVID-19 emergency and its impact on the community of 37,000 residents. Showing no signs of abating as the annual flu season came closer, the County's COVID-19 Response Team quickly realized that the county’s flu clinics would have to be transformed to administer vaccines safely and efficiently.

With a track record of collaborating across departments, the COVID-19 Response Team got to work, bringing together staff from the Public Health & Human Services Department, GIS Department, Sheriff’s Office, Land Department, Transportation Department, Building Maintenance Department and IT Department. Together they began creating location technology-based solutions that would eliminate concerns related to COVID-19 transmission, such as standing in line with others, sharing pens and having multiple individuals touch paper forms.

First, the team identified Survey123 forms as the lynchpin of the new flu clinic model. Online forms would make registration easier and faster for the public and provide real-time statistics, allowing the county to analyze how many people were being vaccinated, how quickly, and plan for clinic resourcing. Important information about individuals receiving the flu vaccine – such as which vaccine they received – could be stored and accessed rapidly, and responses could be standardized to avoid data entry errors.

Meanwhile, the process of migrating the flu clinic from a traditional office format to a drive-through model began, with stations for each stage of the process from registration to vaccination.

The County’s IT staff also played a critical role, preparing iPads and ensuring robust wifi coverage was in place to deliver an efficient clinic operation.

Carlton County’s GIS Coordinator Jared Hovi and Technician Siona Roberts configured four Survey123 forms for the flu clinic:

1. A registration form for online pre-registration
2. A registration form for on-site registration, allowing individuals to register as they waited in line in their cars to receive their vaccines to speed clinic visits.
3. Check-in and the completion of required forms.
4. Vaccine administration - recording important details about the vaccine provided to the patient

The team also generated a QR code which was on display for cars entering the clinic location, providing easy access to the registration form. 

“Moving from paper to online forms was transformative. It gave us much more insight, much faster, allowing us to better serve the community. Without manually uploading information from paper to various county systems, we were more efficient, more accurate, and much safer in light of concerns about the spread of COVID-19,” said Ali Mueller, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator at Carlton County.

Collaboration across the Carlton County COVID-19 Response Team and beyond was key to creating GIS solutions that would function well for all stakeholders. The involvement of those who would work at different stations at the clinic was critical, as well as billing and other functions including traffic control, security and behavioral health support.

Training was provided to key clinic staff on using the electronic form, equipping “champions” who could answer questions and troubleshoot on-site if needed.

A major advantage of the Survey123 forms was the ability to further refine them during the clinic based on feedback from users, with tweaks such as autocalculating age based on the date of birth entered by an individual. 

The team created a  Hub  to inform the community about the new drive-through flu vaccine clinic, deploying Esri’s ArcGIS Hub to bring together a collection of resources in a user-friendly environment that could be easily accessed and understood.

Dashboards were configured for the clinic’s registration and vaccination stations, providing real-time insight on the number of people registered, how many were vaccinated each day and each previous day and those registered but not yet vaccinated. Traffic flow was also reflected in dashboard statistics, contributing to a complete operational picture.

For many, the most valuable dashboard was the one displaying ratings given by vaccine recipients, who had the opportunity to participate in a survey after their visit. Displayed on a 50-inch screen that could be easily seen by clinic staff, the dashboard provided a barometer of success for the new clinic format based on feedback from the public. It also provided a helpful tool for engaging local media to help share real-time statistics on vaccinations. Read more  here  and  here .

With all of the components in place, the County coordinated a test run of the new clinic, bringing together IT, GIS, Public Health, and other logistical components (the County Sheriff's Office, Land Department, Building Maintenance and Transportation) to identify and mitigate any unforeseen challenges.

With testing complete, the clinic went live.  

Mueller’s verdict on the new-look flu vaccine clinic?

“This is the way it should be done."

The new flu clinic model made everything easier,” said Mueller. “We were able to plan staff resourcing appropriately based on patterns we saw in attendance, and we didn’t have to sanitize equipment such as pens and office furniture or have to enforce social distancing measures in an indoor setting. People stayed in their cars and moved swiftly through the stations.”

“Most importantly,” said Mueller, “we were able to vaccinate more people and protect more of our community from the flu this winter.”

“Working as a cohesive team across departments along with support from our GIS vendor  Pro-West & Associates  to get the job done, we were able to rapidly pivot from our traditional plan and create something even better.

"We will be using this model from now on because, ultimately, it’s better for residents of Carlton County,” said Mueller.

It may not be long before the County has the opportunity to repeat the process rolled out for its flu vaccine clinic. As the clock ticks on a COVID-19 vaccine, the Carlton County COVID-19 Response Team has a plan to manage the mass dispensing operation with which it will be tasked. The team has launched a dedicated operation to prepare for COVID-19 vaccine dispensing which will be modeled on the County’s flu vaccine clinic.

“With local government being responsible for administering COVID-19 vaccines to communities, it’s critical that we’re prepared to safely vaccinate a huge number of people in a short timeframe. The transformation of this year’s flu clinic has shown us that, with the right technology, collaboration and logistics, it is possible," said Mueller.

Carlton County offers the following advice:

• Involve the people that will be using your GIS-based solution. They know their line of work best and it needs to function well for them.
• Partnership is prime! If your GIS Department isn’t regularly engaging with your Health Department, start today. Location intelligence offers huge value to public health professionals.
• If you’re a GIS professional, don’t be afraid to bring your ideas to other departments. They may need help figuring out what you can do beyond mapping and what’s possible with GIS tools.
• Test your solution thoroughly. Work out any challenges before it’s needed.

ArcWatch: A Safer, Speedier Flu Clinic

Time: How Drive-Through COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics Could Help Inoculate the US

Fierce Healthcare: How mapping technology and location intelligence will help COVID-19 vaccine distribution

DW News: How to Vaccinate the World

Esri Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award