<< Back

Eligible Soon for a COVID Vaccine? Watch for This Electronic Message

March 16, 2021

Hartford HealthCare plans to send out hundreds of thousands of electronic messages this week inviting 45- to 54-year-old patients to register at one of its many vaccine clinic locations when appointments are available. This comes as Connecticut continues to expand the vaccine rollout, with residents over age 45 eligible starting March 19.

The health system’s Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. Ajay Kumar, said Tuesday that text or email messages will go out to anyone age 45 to 54 who is registered on the system’s MyChart patient portal, advising them that they’ll be notified when appointments are open.

“The appointment messages will contain a link to schedule a vaccine seamlessly,” Dr. Kumar said during a media briefing.

This will help people avoid checking their MyChartPLUS portal, making multiple phone calls or being disappointed if appointments are scarce. Appointments are based on vaccine availability, so more patients will be notified whenever more vaccine arrives.

The Hartford HealthCare team also highlighted quality improvements made during the pandemic — a key message now, during National Patient Safety Week.

The pandemic brought new demands for healthcare systems and heightened concern about the spread of infection. Vice President of Quality & Safety Stephanie Calcasola said this drove teams to examine a wide variety of processes more closely for improvement opportunities, resulting in an environment that is safer and cleaner than ever before.

“COVID-19 made us reflect on how we do things,” she said, referring to examination of existing procedures for such things as processing patients and cleaning patient spaces. “We understood the challenges (of the pandemic) and delivered.”