Frequently Asked Questions on ServiceNow® Vaccine Administration Management

[ServiceNow]

General questions on the announcement:

Q: What is ServiceNow announcing today?

A: We announced new workflow solutions to help organizations get people vaccinated quickly. Organizations are using ServiceNow as their vaccine management command center to connect the ‘last mile’ tasks of COVID-19 vaccine distribution, administration, and monitoring.

ServiceNow introduced a new Vaccine Administration Management solution for patient engagement that helps speed the immunization process by providing organizations with out-of-the box capabilities that allow vaccine recipients to schedule appointments, provide pre-visit information, and receive notifications from vaccine providers. Vaccine Administration Management is built on ServiceNow Customer Service Management (CSM) Professional and delivers a modern, self-service experience across desktop and mobile devices. The solution enables organizations to easily schedule appointments in bulk and notify patients when more COVID-19 vaccines are available or when a new population is being prioritized for the vaccination.

The Vaccine Administration Management solution is available immediately for download from the ServiceNow Store. ServiceNow will introduce additional solutions to support organizations’ last mile vaccination management efforts in the coming weeks.

Q: What problem are you solving?

A: Vaccinating the world’s population against COVID-19 is the most significant workflow challenge of our lifetime. From the factory to the frontline, we are harnessing the power of the Now Platform to enable organizations tasked with vaccinating people at the scale, speed, and flexibility needed to help move the world toward a healthier future.

Despite heroic scientific achievements in developing the COVID-19 vaccine, organizations struggle with the sheer scale and “last mile” of vaccine management as they lack processes and infrastructure needed to vaccinate people quickly. The characteristics of the vaccine – limited supply, precise storage conditions, and two-part injection requirements – plus the unprecedented scale make its urgent distribution a complex workflow problem that requires unprecedented public-private sector collaboration.

To address these problems, organizations are using ServiceNow as their vaccine management command center to connect the last mile tasks of COVID-19 vaccine distribution, administration, and monitoring.

Q: Are you announcing new capabilities built specifically for vaccine management or are these solutions existing products ServiceNow had in the market?

A: These solutions are built on CSM Professional and the Now Platform to help customers quickly leverage their current technology investments. The content for the solutions was built by ServiceNow solution consultants with decades of health care and public health experience using the U.S. Center for Disease Control Vaccine Management playbook.

Q: What is the Vaccine Management ‘command center?’

A: The vaccine management command center is a broad set of solutions from ServiceNow that address workflows across the vaccine management process, including vaccine distribution, administration and monitoring, and safe return to workplace. ServiceNow has solutions to manage and connect eight common workflows across the vaccine management process including:

• Distribution workflows:
  • Vaccine allocation - distribution channel management and allocation prioritization
  • Transportation and Storage – storage handling and distribution, quality control
• Administration workflows:
  • Vaccine capacity management - inventory management; prioritization and administration phasing
  • Patient/ Citizen engagement – Omni-channel experience, chatbot, self-service, schedule reminders -- available now as a product on the ServiceNow store
  • Provider management – Onboarding healthcare professionals and workforce management
  • Employee management – Healthcare and workplace training
• Monitoring workflows:
  • Pharmacovigilance - patient safety and monitoring, adverse event reporting
  • Workplace management – to assist safe return to work and public activities

These workflows are all possible on the Now Platform, using the AI and intelligent workflow capabilities native to the platform.

Q: What is the Vaccine Administration Management app and what does it help a customer to do?

A: TheVaccine Administration Management app speeds the immunization process by providing organizations with out-of-the box capabilities that allow vaccine recipients to address any questions using self-service and provide pre-visit information, schedule appointments, and receive notifications from vaccine providers. Vaccine Administration Management is built on ServiceNow Customer Service Management (CSM) Professional and delivers a modern, self-service experience across desktop and mobile devices. The solution will connect patient engagement with back-end inventory systems so organizations can easily schedule appointments and notify patients when more COVID-19 vaccines are available or when a new population is being prioritized for the vaccination.

Q: Do you expect to innovate the Vaccine Management Administration solution on a similar cadence as your Safe Workplace suite of apps?

A: Yes, we expect to release innovations to Vaccine Management Administration and related capabilities approximately every two weeks via the ServiceNow store as customer needs and priorities evolve over time.

Q: Can you provide examples of customers that are using your vaccine management command center or the Vaccine Administration Management app?

A: The State of North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) is relying on ServiceNow’s technology as the foundation for its “command center” for healthcare providers, clinicians administering the vaccine, and supporting NCDHHS staff to access the latest information related to state vaccine requirements and to get their vaccine-related questions answered.

“To help get our more than 10 million North Carolinians vaccinated quickly and efficiently, the State of North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is using the ServiceNow platform to power our COVID Vaccine Management System (CVMS) Help Desk Portal,” said Thomas Parrish, Acting Secretary and State Chief Information Officer for the North Carolina Department of Information Technology. “Leveraging ServiceNow, we also were able to assist NCDHHS in developing a workflow on the CVMS Help Desk Portal that digitizes the process of requesting and securing state approval to transfer vaccines to different locations. What was previously a manual, time-intensive process can now be completed through the portal with a few clicks – ultimately accelerating the immunization process.”

ServiceNow is also working more than 100 customers, including NHS Scotland.

Q: Does ServiceNow have a healthcare, life sciences, and pharma practice inside ServiceNow? How many experts do you have on these topics?

A: Yes, as part of ServiceNow’s strategy to grow to $10B in revenue, ServiceNow has invested in industry specific solutions and experts to help customers with specific business issues. ServiceNow has a global sales and solutions team dedicated to the Healthcare Provider, Payer, and Life Sciences industries.

Learn more about the value ServiceNow healthcare solutions in this white paper.

Q: What are the main features of the Vaccine Administration Management app?

A: The Vaccine Administration Management app delivers the following capabilities across the Vaccine Management workflow:

• Mass-scheduling of appointments
• Request, reschedule, and cancel appointments via self-service portal
• Collect relevant pre-vaccination information and privacy consent
• Automate second-dose logistics, and notify and remind users
• Administer and record vaccinations

Q: Does the Vaccine Administration Management solution allow people to reschedule and change vaccination appointments?

A: Yes, vaccine recipients can schedule, reschedule, and cancel appointments via a web browser or mobile interface.

Q: How does the Vaccine Administration Management solution confirm that the person scheduling is eligible to receive a vaccine? Does it coordinate with supply chain systems to ensure that vaccine supply is available?

A: Due to limited supply in phase 1 of vaccine deployment, patients will be provided with a ServiceNow id to use the app that allows them to check if they are eligible. Future releases are expected to include self-registrations and inventory management. ServiceNow is releasing feature updates to the app approximately every two weeks on the ServiceNow store allowing for very fast innovation and delivery of value to customers.

Q: Does the Vaccine Administration Management solution integrate with IIS systems that a customer may already have deployed in their environment?

A: Yes, the ServiceNow Vaccine Administration Management app can integrate with relevant systems of record, including electronic medical records systems Epic and Cerner. ServiceNow’s Integration Hub capability can support additional integrations needed.

Q: Does the Vaccine Administration Management solution save personal health information? How is that handled?

A: The app allows vaccine recipients to provide personal health information as part of the pre-scheduling screening questionnaire, and allows the organization to keep track of vaccination status information. The customer is responsible for following appropriate rules and regulations for the use and storage of that data.

The Vaccine Administration Management solution ships with column level encryption (CLE)and key management framework (KMF) configuration to encrypt certain data at rest. Customers will need to activate the plugin by contacting ServiceNow Support. Optional edge encryption is also available at a customer’s request.

In addition, the Vaccine Administration Management app is a store secure app, which means only users with the Sn_vaccine_sm.admin role can view and update vaccination configuration data. ServiceNow Admins cannot view this data.

Customers are ultimately responsible for encrypting fields and information in their implementation to meet their specific requirements.

Q: Can appointments be scheduled via a mobile interface? (i.e.: Mobile phone scheduling)

A: Yes, the web-based application fully supports mobile in an easy to use, consumer-like interface.

Q: Does the Vaccine Administration Management app create a digital vaccination certificate?

A: It does not today, but this is a workflow we’re actively discussing with many customers as certificate standards and use become better defined.

Q: Where can a customer find the Vaccine Administration Management app to download it?

A: The Vaccine Administration Management app is available in the ServiceNow Store.

Q: Can a customer test this on dev before prod? Is there a demo available?

A: Yes, this is always the recommended path. Yes, a demo is available at this link.

Q: Can the Vaccine Administration Management solution be configured and extended?

A: The content within the app is designed to be configurable for COVID-19 or other emergency-specific options. Configurations and extensions are done using standard Now Platform product interfaces.

Q: Is your Vaccine Administration Management solution available for organizations globally? Is it only available in English?

A: Yes, the Vaccine Administration Management solution and all the workflows in the ServiceNow vaccine command center set of solutions are available globally. The app is available in English in the first release.

Q: What is the price for the Vaccine Administration app?

These apps will follow ServiceNow’s normal pricing approaches and customers should contact their account executive for more information.

If pressed: We do not disclose specific pricing levels; please direct to work with assigned AE to scope.

Q: How is the solution packaged?

A: The Vaccine Administration Management app requires the CSM Professional tier, Paris Patch 5 or higher, and is delivered as a Store app available to download.

Q: Is the VAM solution approved for FedRAMP?

A: In order to procure an app from the Store, customers must accept the Store Terms of Use which contains a clause stipulating that ServiceNow's FedRAMP Provisional Authorization to Operate (P-ATO) does not apply to Store applications and that ServiceNow does not warrant any apps on the Store as being FedRAMP certified.

Federal customers should contact their account executive directly to evaluate any security requirements.

Q: Do you plan to productize the Vaccine Administration Management solutions? Will there be a roadmap for enhancements and updates?

A: Yes, ServiceNow plans to release innovations for Vaccine Administration Management approximately every two weeks. New features will be shared when available.

Q: Is ServiceNow offering customers support for the Vaccine Administration Management solution?

A: Yes. Customers will be able to access all of ServiceNow’s standard support channels. Additionally, the ServiceNow Global Partner ecosystem is aware of the solution and has resources to support their customers.

Visit the ServiceNow Community Vaccine Administration Management Forum.

Q: What functional documentation is available on the Vaccine Administration Management app?

A: Yes, there is a file with installation, configuration, and usage instructions available on the ServiceNow product documentation site (http://docs.servicenow.com).

Q: What service offerings are available to support customers?

A: Both partners and ServiceNow Remote Services can assist customers in activating and deploying the Vaccine Management app and our broader solutions via our Remote Administration service. The ServiceNow Remote service is ordered on the ServiceNow Store using a simple and fast ordering process. Via Remote Administration, ServiceNow is able to quickly engage to help customers with assistance on the applications

Customers already working with a Partner can also connect with their Partner for rapid deployment assistance.

Q: Is ServiceNow enabling its Partner Ecosystem to assist in helping customers implement these apps?

Yes, ServiceNow has created an Alliances and Channel Ecosystem (ACE) COVID-19 Rapid Response Initiative with an associated engagement plan, training and web page that will function as a single point of contact for our global partner community via our Partner Portal. Our ACE Partner Concierge Service will also be on standby to take calls or chats to guide our partners. The web page on our Partner Portal will include links and materials to relevant COVID-19 related content for our partners.

Q: What do I need to do to get started with the Vaccine Administration Management app?

A: Customers just need to have a ServiceNow instance. They then:

• Download and install the apps and instructions from store.servicenow.com.
• Configure apps with the company’s specific content such as text, response options, and any links to internal systems.
• Visit the Now community forum for help, idea exchanges, and more.

New customers should work with an account executive to evaluate the solution.

Q: How long will it take to get started using the Vaccine Administration Management app?

A: On average, we believe it will take about two weeks to go from idea to fully deployed. This time frame is due, in part, to our recommendation that a new instance be used for this solution.

Q: What if a customer wants to customize or extend the Vaccine Administration Management solution?

A: The Now Platform enables customers to configure, customize or extend these applications as they see fit. There are tools available for developers of any skill level from a business developer to a pro. Developers can learn more about how to use these tools at developers.servicenow.com

Q: What if I want to build my own apps?

A: Do it on App Engine! ServiceNow provides capabilities for developers of any skill level from a process analyst to a professional developer to extend or build applications using no-code to professional developer tools. Developers can learn more about how to build apps at developers.servicenow.com. Development on the Now Platform will require paid usage of the platform.

We have a vibrant online Now Community of more than 270,000 members. The COVID-19 suggestion portal is a special section of the Now Community where customers and partners can share ideas and questions about how to leverage the ServiceNow platform during the COVID-19 crisis.

Registered Now Community users can contribute at https://community.servicenow.com/community.

Notice regarding use by government agencies

ServiceNow is offering this application to government agencies and their authorized users, not to government employees in their individual capacities. Use of the application does not modify any existing, or future entitlements or payment obligations for ServiceNow software or applications otherwise purchased by the government agency. ServiceNow shall not be responsible for any implementation or configuration costs associated with use of the application unless separately purchased. Government customers are solely responsible to confirm with the agency’s Ethics Office or its authorized representative that acceptance and usage of the application is permissible.

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[Adam Hughes]

Anyone else get a spam link when they click on the link under "Can a customer test this on dev before prod? Is there a demo available?"

[Dan Bruhn]

Hi Adam.... The link has been fixed.