The introduction of electronic consent for the school aged immunization program.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Informatics
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Traditional paper consent forms for UK National Health Service (NHS) treatments, particularly immunizations, are resource-intensive.
• These paper-based processes consume significant time, space, paper, and staff resources.
• A need exists for a more modern, secure, cost-effective, and paperless consent solution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and pilot an electronic consent (eConsent) form for routine school-aged immunization programs.
• To evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the eConsent system compared to traditional paper forms.
• To assess the impact of eConsent on clinical record updates and operational costs.

Main Methods:

• An electronic consent form was developed for the school-aged immunization program.
• The eConsent system was piloted for the HPV 1 vaccine in 25 schools in summer 2019.
• Return rates and return times were compared to historical paper consent data.

Main Results:

• The eConsent pilot achieved an average return rate of 80%, significantly higher than paper returns.
• eConsent demonstrated a significantly quicker return rate compared to paper forms.
• Faster clinical record updates were achieved, reducing clinical risk.

Conclusions:

• The eConsent system for school-aged immunizations has proven successful, demonstrating higher and faster return rates.
• The system has reduced operating costs and improved collaboration across sectors.
• While still in its early stages, the eConsent practice is a successful step towards modernizing healthcare consent processes.