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  Today in Health it we dissect a high performing organization's approach to vaccine distribution. My name is Bill Russell. I'm a former CIO for a 16 hospital system and creator of this week in Health IT a channel dedicated to keeping health IT staff current. I. And engaged VMware is the first sponsor of this week in Health IT way back a couple years ago, and now they're the first sponsor of Today in Health.

it. They've been committed to our mission of providing relevant content to health IT professionals since the start. They recently completed an executive study with MIT on the top, healthcare Trends, shaping it, resilience, covering how the pandemic drove unique transformation in healthcare. This is just one of many resources they have for healthcare professionals For this and several other great content pieces, checkout vmware.com/go/healthcare.

Alright, onto today's story. I found this on LinkedIn. . It was, um, a post from Atrium Health and it was about their, uh, distribution, uh, vehicle that they were using. And, you know, the, the, as we talked about yesterday, the goal is to get shots in arms. And if you're wondering why I am, I'm doing so many vaccine distribution stories, it is the most important healthcare story today.

I mean, it may not be tomorrow, it may not be, you know, six months ago, but it is the most important healthcare story today. And this is something that every health system, uh, could benefit from. And so, uh, while it continues to be the best, uh, the, the best, the most important story we're gonna. Continue to try to provide examples and things that health systems are doing, uh, to maybe spur some thoughts within your health system.

So the goal is shots in arms mass vaccination events are really a fascinating case study on the capabilities of health system leaders and, and. To see how they're using their capabilities and displaying it at this critical moment. Um, as I said, I'm using Atrium Health as an example. Uh, but I know there's a couple other mass vaccination events going on across the country.

Uh, this is, uh, one that is particularly well done and here are some excerpts from the article. And, uh, let's see, a, a unique private . Public-private partnership will host the first of several mass vaccination events. Atrium Health will be administering over 16,000 vaccinations to people who are at least 65 years of age at the Charlotte Motor Speedway as the first of two announced mass vaccination sites at professional sports venues.

Bank of America Stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte Football Club is planning to host a similar mass vaccination event. In the near future, people will actually drive on the racetrack and pit road before entering one of 12 vaccination lanes. In the garage area, the entire process will take place without people leaving their cars.

And I'm gonna talk later why I love that. Uh, Honeywell has rapidly convened experts from our organization to work with our partners to implement enhanced logistics, ensuring a smooth and quick start to the effort to vaccinate. Thousands of people said Darius Adam, sick, uh, chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Honeywell.

Our work is only beginning. We and our partners won't stop until we distribute 1 million doses by July 4th. We believe the model we are developing in North Carolina is close, enclosed partnership with the Governor Cooper and Secretary Cohen and their teams will also be helpful to other states as they.

Look to accelerate their vaccine distribution efforts, and I love that for several reasons. I'll come back to that. Hundreds of atrium, uh, health teammates, including physicians and advanced practice providers, along with additional volunteers from Honeywell and Carbu Health Alliance, will spend their personal time this weekend to help vaccinate community members in a collective effort to get the population to herd immunity status.

Appointments for all Atrium Health vaccination locations and events can be scheduled on. It's my Atrium Health platform on the health systems website or via its app. Those who don't have the My Atrium Health account can create one or schedule a vaccination appointment by phone if assistance is needed.

There are no out-of-pocket costs for patients to receive the vaccine. Those receiving their initial dose of the vaccine this weekend will be asked to schedule their second dose three weeks from now. Those also will be administered at the Speedway. Okay. This, uh, as you know, for each one of these stories that I do on today, I try to do a so what?

And the, so what is sort of a, who cares? Why does this matter? There's so many reasons. One is, you know, uh, right now there's limited supply. Of the vaccine and tons of demand. Okay? This is like having the best product of all time at Christmas, and everyone wants it before December 25th. You just have to organize the chaos of the buyers who, who want the product.

This does, you know, this is an example of doing this really well, doing this beautifully, and it, it demonstrates next level thinking. This is why I'm highlighting it. You know, let's just go through some of these things, you know, at, at some, and here's, here's why. Next level thinking's required, you know, at, at some point, uh, Christmas comes and goes, and, um, the makers of the Cabbage Patch doll have to figure out how to make a market from this product.

Uh, in this case, we're, we're gonna go through the people who can't wait to get the vaccine and come to those who are on the fence for various reasons. Um, and, you know, we're gonna have plenty of vaccine, especially . Uh, with the introduction of the third vaccine from j and j, uh, then we're gonna have to sell.

Atrium demonstrates three key things in their approach, partnership, I. The partnership with Honeywell, the partnership with the, uh, sports teams. They're engaging the community in this, uh, in this challenge, right? That is very important. Uh, the second is marketing and communication prowess. Uh, you know, uh, this is a skill that is, is furthest from where it needs to be for health systems.

We need like. NFL and Amazon and Tesla like capabilities in healthcare to reach people across many channels. And, and finally, there's a great wow factor to this. The next group, uh, is going to be on the fence. Uh, you know, as silly as it sounds, this group that's on the fence about getting the vaccine, um, driving on the Charlotte Motor Speed Bay way or or walking on a professional football field is a cool deal for many.

And it could mean the difference between them, uh, getting in line or not getting in line. Uh, you know, once we get to 50 per or to 60% vaccinated, we will be looking for ways to improve our, our community acceptance of the vaccine by one or 2%. And these are the kinds of strategies that, uh, we're gonna need.

Uh, oh. Oh, and the rest is pretty solid as well. I mean, look at some of these things. You know, they have the, they have a web portal, phone way of scheduling. Um, you know, the, the marketing reach, just as an example, reached me in Florida. Um, . You know, the, the, the blocking and tackling of this, they have a whole bunch of the facts, uh, the frequently asked questions addressed in the, uh, the press release as well.

Uh, it's real clear on where you go. It's real clear on what their goal is. It's real clear on the amount of vaccines that they're going to be distributing. There's a limited supply. Only 16,000 people are going to be able to get in. They create scarcity right out of the shoot. It is such a really, it is a really good marketing piece.

In and of itself answering all the key questions for the buyers, answering, uh, you know, creating urgency, call to action, way to purchase the product. It is really well done. This is higher level thinking and this is the kind of stuff we need to be doing as health systems. I. All right. That's all for today.

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