Numerous counties in Florida have rolled out Eventbrite while some Oklahoma government agencies and one New Jersey county are using SignUpGenius. The platforms replace appointment hotlines and websites that have crashed when overwhelmed by high amounts of online traffic.
“Signing up to get a Covid vaccine is like trying to get a Beatles ticket,” said Jacob Saur, public safety director for Florida’s Manatee County. He told Bloomberg the demand for the shot in his county crashed the web sign-up sheet he had created.
Florida is piloting a scheduling system of its own in certain counties, but many of Mr. Saur’s peers have called on Eventbrite because it was free and familiar. “As the state is getting vaccines, they’re pushing them out as fast as they can,” he said. “When we get a large batch, I’m not going to do a first-come, first-served. We needed a quick way to schedule these people. We aren’t large schedulers, and Eventbrite came to mind and we used it.”
Florida’s Brevard County government recently decided to use Eventbrite when its phone lines stopped working at its local health department, a county spokesperson said, adding that it took them about three hours to set up the event, run tests and get approval.
On its website, SignUpGenius is offering “feature-packed subscription plans,” to help people sign up for vaccines and schedule staff shifts and manage sites, according to the report. The platform is typically used to help people organize events such as carpools, bridal showers and potlucks.
Some New Jersey counties are operating their own appointment websites and Hunterdon County has been offering appointments via SignUpGenius.
Editor’s note: This article was updated Jan. 6 at 6 p.m. CST.
More articles on health IT:
Optum to buy Change Healthcare in $13B deal: 5 details
Oklahoma health department taps Microsoft to build COVID-19 vaccine scheduling app
BayCare to equip 2,500 hospital rooms with Amazon Alexa-powered platform: 6 details
At the Becker's 11th Annual IT + Revenue Cycle Conference: The Future of AI & Digital Health, taking place September 14–17 in Chicago, healthcare executives and digital leaders from across the country will come together to explore how AI, interoperability, cybersecurity, and revenue cycle innovation are transforming care delivery, strengthening financial performance, and driving the next era of digital health. Apply for complimentary registration now.
