People living in Portugal can now consult their vaccination status via their computer or smartphone, thanks to a new system developed through the Boletim de Vacinas Eletrónico (Electronic Vaccination Record) project. The electronic record – or Vaccine eCard – stores the immunisation records of all Portuguese residents. Public health authorities also benefit from the new system, which centralises management of the national vaccination plan, and can use it to help develop new immunisation programmes and strategies.
Vaccination eCard covers all Portuguese citizens
- 05 February 2020
The Electronic Vaccination Record has simplified processes, reduced costs, improved quality of information and thus increased the NHS's proximity to citizens, enhancing health gains. It makes it easier to consult vaccination history, without the risk of loss or misplacement of information, as happened with the paper record.
By creating a comprehensive immunisation record, the project has consolidated information about vaccines administered by different providers working in Portugal’s national health service. The centralised record of vaccinations has been created within the existing infrastructure of the country’s electronic health record (EHR). Both patients and health professionals can access it. The paper-free system has delivered better processes, reduced costs and led to service improvements.
Complete records
Because the new system provides a complete immunisation history, it can be used to generate forecasts for future needs, ensuring demand for vaccines can be met in a timely and efficient way. Integration of the Vaccine eCard within the EHR allows every healthcare professional to access patient’s immunisation records. Having such information at their fingertips allows doctors and nurses to assess their patients’ future vaccine needs and help them diagnose illnesses.
This system is centralised, allowing each person’s vaccination calendar to contain the records of all health units such as private healthcare providers, international vaccination centres, primary healthcare units, hospitals and pharmacies.
The eCard aims to bring healthcare closer to people by giving them access to the own vaccination records at the click of a mouse or via their smartphones. Currently 2 265 804 people access the citizen area of the EHR, where they can access their vaccination record. About 540 000 users have downloaded the vaccination card from a MyNHS Wallet mobile application.
Informing health strategies
Through this centralised electronic register, the Directorate General for Health can easily monitor the vaccination coverage rates of the entire Portuguese population. The system updates in real time, providing an accurate picture of immunisation that can be used to inform changes to vaccination strategies and issue seasonal alerts, for example recommending flu jabs for vulnerable people.
Portugal now has one of the largest datasets of health information and can share it with the scientific community. Such data can be presented in a dashboard platform to promote the transparency of vaccination records and immunisation coverage in Portugal.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Boletim de Vacinas Eletrónico” is EUR 291 708,with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 247 952 through the “Competitiveness and Internationalisation” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “ICT”.