Boosting ImmsBC after launch with the Ministry of Health

Our Digital Code of Practice blog series highlights ways the 10 practices can help transform government operations and deliver improved services to citizens. For our third instalment we’re highlighting recent updates to ImmsBC, the Ministry of Health’s appointment and record-keeping system which helped delivered the COVID-19 vaccine to 4.5 million people in the province.

Refining after launch

Even a successful platform needs to adapt as users’ needs change over time. Three years after launching ImmsBC, the Ministry of Health recognized this by assembling a service design team to make sure the platform could continue to meet the needs of people in B.C.

When the vaccine for COVID-19 had first become available to British Columbia, there was no system to get it into the arms of people who needed it most. The ministry had to build ImmsBC to engage the public and book appointments, and at the height of the vaccination campaign it processed 65,000 people per week. Combined with the public-facing Get Vaccinated website, the system helped British Columbia become one of the best protected jurisdictions in the world with a vaccination rate of over 80%.

As ImmsBC continued to operate through third doses and boosters, there was still work to be done in the pursuit of Continuous learning and improvement. Continuing the ImmsBC team’s original commitment to Design with people, the new service design team would begin their user research by interviewing people who had experienced the entire vaccination process to better understand their wants and needs for the system.

Working arm-in-arm with users

In their first round of research, the team heard that issuing invitations to people based on their age didn’t work for everyone. People wanted to get vaccinated at the same time as their loved ones, like young children or elderly parents. The team also learned that it wasn’t practical for people living in remote communities to travel for vaccination appointments individually. In these cases, going in larger groups would make vaccines more accessible for the entire community.

In their second round of research, the service design team explored the possibility of a group booking system, working with ImmsBC’s user interface designers to develop and test prototypes. They found that a group booking system was possible but building it would take time, so it couldn’t be delivered for the next vaccination cycle in the fall. While they continued their work on a group booking system in the background, the team explored alternative ways of helping people get vaccinated together in the short term.

To ensure people’s need to book together was heard at the highest level, the service design team presented their research to the leaders in charge of the vaccination effort. The team’s insights enabled those leaders to adjust vaccination processes so caretakers could get their own dose at the same time they brought their children to the vaccination clinic.

Technically speaking, the only development work required for this change was posting a notice on the vaccination site to let people know the new option was available. Not every problem requires a major technical solution — what’s important is working closely with users and program partners to make sure people get the information and services they need.

Responsive improvement with DCOP

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed many ways government digital services could be improved to meet public expectations. Thanks to the flexibility and resilience of the BC Public Service, improvements after the initial campaign have continued to make the vaccination process move quickly and work for people.

ImmsBC’s success shows what a team can accomplish when they commit to Designing with people and Continuously learning and improving. They listened to what their users wanted and found a way to meet their needs. Their flexibility is a great example of how a team can deliver better results by staying responsive to users and changes in context.