Immunization Information System at the IMSS’s Innovation Olympics

The Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) held the 2nd Edition of the Innovation Olympics from March 13 to 15, a contest of ideas and innovative experiences in different fields and professional disciplines, in order to improve healthcare to patients and enhance human talent in the country.

For three days, national and international innovation leaders shared their knowledge and experiences to show that innovation is the way to update institutions and services. The IMSS took this opportunity to position itself towards a cultural change of innovation for the prevention and timely detection of diseases.

Carlos Slim Foundation (CSF) participated in the Innovation Olympics with the presentation of its development Immunization Information System (Sistema Integral de Información de Vacunación, SIIVac), an electronic system with storage capacity of personal vaccination data. Thus, the information of the persons and their vaccines is safe and can be recovered even if the immunization card is lost. Also, vaccination information is available on a chip attached to the paper card or in a cell phone app.

With this electronic chip, the System converts the traditional Health Record into Electronic Immunization Records (Cartilla Electrónica de Vacunación, CEV), which communicates with a mobile application operated by the vaccinators. SIIVac is generating a very positive effect on the health of girls and boys in Mexico, promoting the co-responsibility of people, informing them and making them more aware of their health status.

SIIVac has an enormous versatility, since it can operate in the computer in a doctor’s office, a tablet or a cell phone in health units and in communities.

The SIIVac is focused on supporting the vaccinator in his work, generating essential data for personalized vaccination scheme monitoring in Mexican children. In this way, the SIIVac:

• Supports the continuous training and professionalization of vaccinators.
• Issues messages and reminders that help people to always receive vaccines safely.
• Facilitates programming the daily activities of vaccinators’ teams.
• And igenerates reports automatically, giving them more time to care for people.

The implementation of SIIVac is revolutionizing the universal vaccination program in Mexico, as it contributes to the growth of coverage and supports health personnel in good vaccination practices, inside and outside the health units.