Experience and Compliance With Scanning Vaccines’ Two-Dimensional Barcodes to Record Data

Automated population of data into health information system fields offers the potential to increase efficiencies and save time. Increasingly, as two-dimensional barcoded vaccine products and barcode scanning technology become more widely available, manual recording of vaccine data can be reduced. This evaluation explores how often two-dimensional barcodes on vaccine vials and syringes were scanned and the perceived benefits and challenges reported by vaccine providers. Eighty-two facilities that administer vaccines completed the evaluation. Twenty-seven of those facilities provided records from vaccines administered between July 2014 and January 2015. Among the 63 179 two-dimensional barcoded vaccine administrations recorded, 12 408 (19%) were scanned. We received 116 user surveys from 63 facilities; using content analysis, we identified perceived benefits of scanning, workflow challenges, scanning challenges, and other challenges. The findings of this evaluation can guide health information system developers, vaccine manufacturers, and vaccine providers on how to remove potential barriers to using two-dimensional barcode scanning.

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