An electronic decision support system (DSS) for frontline healthcare providers

THE CHALLENGE

The prevalence of missed opportunities for Immunization (MOI) in low-middle income countries (LMICs) is 32%.  

Complex EPI schedules with the frequent addition of new vaccines coupled with the manual calculation of age-appropriate schedules by frontline health workers is time-consuming with the risk of errors that contribute to MOI’s.

OUR APPROACH

IRD has developed an interoperable immunization Decision Support System (iDSS) that automatically constructs catch-up vaccine schedules.

 To calculate the schedules, the algorithm uses the child’s vaccination history and current age, and adjusts missed appointments and delayed vaccinations. iDSS testing has been conducted at three immunization facilities in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The sensitivity of iDSS was compared with a gold standard who was an immunization expert with over 20 years of experience in the field of immunizations. 

IMPACT

iDSS functions well as a standalone application as well as when integrated into an electronic immunization registry. 

iDDS has a sensitivity of >99% and specificity of >98% for automatically calculating age-appropriate vaccine schedules. 

Digital tools like iDSS can potentially reduce MOI, improving immunization coverage and timeliness.