The Pneumosmart Vaccination Tool is designed to give GPs a quicker route through the scheduling labyrinth
An online tool may give GPs a quicker route through the labyrinth that is pneumococcal vaccination scheduling.
The Pneumosmart Vaccination Tool, available for free on the Immunisation Coalition’s website, produces pneumococcal vaccination schedules in a matter of minutes by guiding GPs through a series of questions.
“Pneumococcal vaccination is extremely complex and difficult to navigate,” said Kim Sampson, the CEO of the Immunisation Coalition. “To assist immunisation providers, we developed a tool.”
The type, timing and number of pneumococcal vaccinations differs depending on the age, risk factors, previous vaccinations and Indigenous status of each patient. The Pneumosmart Vaccination Tool takes GPs through each relevant factor, and provides a list of category A and category B medical conditions to help select the appropriate pathway.
Often patients were unsure whether they received a pneumococcal vaccination in the past and could not recall whether the 13vPCV or 23vPPV vaccination was administered, Angela Newbound, the SA PHN Immunisation Hub Coordinator at Adelaide PHN, said.
While GPs would usually do everything possible to determine vaccination history, the tool reduces uncertainty in the recommended scheduling, Ms Newbound said.
The Pneumosmart Vaccination Tool also indicated which vaccinations were PBS-listed, funded under the NIP, or unfunded for each patient. The tool made vaccinations scheduling “much, much quicker” for GPs, she said.
Childhood vaccines were not included in the Pneumosmart Vaccination Tool because there was already an online calculator for children created by SA Health.
You can find the tool here: http://immunisationcoalition.org.au/pvt/
