Our service provides provincial solutions for clinical and surveillance client needs in communicable disease, immunization, family health and vaccine inventory management.
The leaders in our team draw on regional and national innovation and expert knowledge to promote best practice in data documentation, use and standards, and a culture of data quality within BC, Yukon and First Nations public health.
Provide expertise and innovative solutions for public health information systems in supporting the delivery of public health programs across provincial and territorial jurisdictions resulting in better health outcomes.
Work collaboratively with the Ministry of Health, the Regional Health Authorities, First Nation Health Authority and Yukon Territory to fully implement a provincial/territorial vaccine inventory system, an immunization registry and a communicable disease and outbreak management system:
- vaccine inventory system – to ensure safe distribution and supply management of provincial vaccine stock to vaccine providers in BC
- immunization registry – to enable provincial immunization coverage surveillance, identification of under-immunized children and students, immunization decision support, school-based clinics, physician access to records, citizen access to immunization records, and provincial readiness to manage outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases
- communicable disease and outbreak management system – to enable provincial and regional communicable disease reporting, management and surveillance as well as identification, tracking and management of outbreaks
Partnerships
The nature, scope and diversity of our work requires strong collaboration with the BC regional, Yukon and First Nations health authorities in order to support their public health user support teams.
We also work closely on system management, contracts, funding and data standards with the BC Ministry of Health, PHSA and many government organizations, committees, agencies and working groups across Canada.
We manage the Provincial Public Health Information Systems, a compilation of more than ten systems. Each of the systems is connected, providing unique tools and data to help manage public health programs, including immunization and provincial communicable disease management and pandemic management.
The systems include a central public health information system (Panorama), as well as systems for scheduling appointments, registering clients, documenting immunizations in mass clinics, and exchanging and storing different types of data and information.
Decision support tools
We produce several decision support tools, including:
- Immunization Forecaster – validates recorded immunizations and recommends future immunizations, helping health care providers to manage vaccines
- Growth Charts – compares a child's height, weight, head size, and body mass index against other children's, helping health care providers to confirm expected growth and identify growth problems
- Medication Adherence – tracks medications taken, helping health care providers to assist patients in completing their care plan
- Personalized Consents – records immunization history and recommended vaccines, helping parents verify vaccines taken and consent to future vaccines
