Five Key Elements of COVID-19 Vaccinations for Customer-Owners

Like many health care organizations across the country, Southcentral Foundation is in the process of vaccinating the people it serves against COVID-19. While initial vaccine doses were used to protect providers, nurses, and other front-line care workers, SCF placed a priority on scaling up vaccination operations as quickly as possible to begin vaccinating customer-owners. Initial doses were reserved for Elders and other customer-owners who were most at risk from COVID-19; however, SCF increased capacity and was quickly able to begin vaccinating all customer-owners. SCF’s COVID-19 vaccinations clinic is now vaccinating about 800 people per day, using only SCF’s existing facilities. Following are some key elements of SCF’s vaccination clinic:

DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES: To see and download documents, such as SCF’s vaccine clinic flyers and guides, visit our Document Resource Library.

1. Access is through primary care. Customer-owners make vaccination appointments through their primary care team. Walk-ins are not accepted due to the fact that vaccine doses need to be removed from the freezer the night before they are used. Also, appointments being handled through primary care means that customer-owners can discuss concerns with their provider beforehand. Primary care teams have also been reaching out proactively to eligible people, especially to Elders at the beginning of the process.
2. Runner room. SCF has “runners” who escort customer-owners through the vaccination process. A room has been set aside for runners where facesheets are printed and vaccine orders are entered. Once a vaccine dose has been ordered, facesheets are placed in order of appointments to prompt runners to take customer-owners to their vaccinator. This keeps the back end of the clinic working efficiently and invisibly to customer-owners.
3. Vaccination stations. Vaccinators verify customer-owner identities and review screener answers with them for appropriateness of the vaccine. Vaccinators are also attentive to age-appropriateness and verify the minimum time has occurred between dose 1 and 2 of vaccine administration. Once the vaccine has been administered, the vaccinator writes down the injection time and the recommended departure time for the runner.  A sticker with the departure time is placed on the customer’s shirt for ease of recognition by the observer staff in the next station.
4. Observation station. The runner escorts the customer-owner to the observation station where they are observed by medical professionals for the required amount of time post-vaccination (either 15 or 30 minutes depending on customer-owner medical history). Chairs are set up with appropriate physical distancing and are disinfected by employees after each customer-owner leaves, and calming music and videos are played in the area. A scheduler is present for customer-owners to schedule their second dose when they leave. While the customer waits, the CMA team completes the vaccination card for customers to take with them.
5. TLC rooms. “TLC rooms” are available adjacent to the observation station if a customer-owner needs medical attention post-vaccine. The TLC rooms are stocked with water, juice, snacks, BP cuffs, pulse oximetry, emergency response kit, emesis bags, cot/linens, and forms for treatment documentation.

Efficient setup of the vaccination clinic has enabled SCF to quickly scale up vaccinations and help Alaska become the #1 state in the country for the percentage of its population that has received the COVID-19 vaccine. For more information about SCF’s approach to COVID-19 vaccination, please contact the SCF Learning Institute.