Universities need help tracking and managing student clinical placement requirements, including background checks and immunizations. Immunization tracking can be complicated, and management tools require functionality to keep up with requirement configurations for different clinical placement affiliates.
For hepatitis B vaccinations, every case requires transparency and flexibility to adjust the series as needed. Vaccination series vary, so it’s critical to have tailored solutions for clarity and ease when monitoring hepatitis B program requirement.
We recently released a new Verified Credentials Scholar® feature to make the tracking of hepatitis B tracking more agile. Whether students require 2- or 3-dose immunizations, being able to manage your students’ vaccinations is not only critical to health and safety, but also ensures successful placement in off-campus fieldwork.
What Does the Hepatitis B Immunization Dosage Schedule Look Like?
In the past, getting immunized for hepatitis B was always given in three doses, and often just after birth. However, in recent years, new developments in adult immunizations have introduced a more flexible vaccination series to use as an alternative to a “standard” 3-dose option.
What’s changed? In February 2018, a new vaccine entered the market that offered the first and only 2-dose, 1-month adult hepatitis B vaccination, Heplisav-B (HepB-CpG). This immunization is gaining ground with more healthcare providers. As a result, universities are changing their requirements to be flexible not just to previously exclusive 3-dose schedules, but also the latest 2-dose option. Our new solution for tracking both dosages responds to this growing need.
The number of doses depends on the brand of vaccination administered. Simply, as of February, 2018, some brands require two doses, while others require three.
How New Features Improve Hepatitis B Immunization Tracking
Our new feature allows administrators to set and review requirements that more accurately reflect the dates and results of hepatitis B vaccinations students receive, making matches to clinical records more consistent.
Universities can designate what dosage schedule meets their criteria. Default dosage is set to a three-dose vaccination and includes an option to allow students to submit dates for two doses only. Depending on the type of vaccination, not all students receive three doses of hepatitis B treatments, even though that is most common.
University administrators benefit from this new feature that simplifies this core clinical placement requirement. With the enhanced hepatitis B feature, schools can now:
- Define parameters for hepatitis B requirements that match affiliate site expectations.
- Know that a student acknowledged how many doses they received via a disclaimer and checkbox when filling out the requirement.
- Stop guessing if Dose 3 was left blank by mistake or intentionally.
- Easily see if a student acknowledged Dose 3, indicated with a “N/A (2-Dose)” status. This is displayed under the date of Dose 3 when reviewing proof documents within their immunization record.
- Minimize confusion and questions from students with a two-dose series who don’t want to leave the date for a third dose blank.
Students Complete Forms That Match their Medical Records
Within their QualifiedFirst® profile, the student-facing platform that connects to your Verified Credentials Scholar® administrative dashboard, students provide dates and proof documents from clinics for vaccination history and other requirements.
Settings for 2- and 3-dose vaccinations are straight-forward and help students understand their requirements via system acknowledgments. Students entering hepatitis B vaccinations into our system will first be asked to indicate what type of vaccination they received, a 2-dose or 3-dose series. From there, they simply complete corresponding fields:
- Three-Dose Vaccinations: For students that require three-dose vaccinations, the Dose 3 field appears and the student will be able to input the dates of each dose.
- Two-Dose Vaccinations: Those that received a two-dose only need to enter Dose 1 and Dose 2 dates.
Additionally, if the school requires a titer blood test, additional fields are visible to students for those results and subsequent vaccination series, if needed.
Clinical Placement Compliance Made Convenient
Managing two- or three-dose Hepatitis B immunizations doesn’t have to be complicated. Verified Credentials is the premier provider of requirement management solutions for over 900 academic programs for medical professions. We can help you to guide students to fulfill hepatitis B vaccines and other requirements needed before they step foot onto affiliate sites to begin clinical rotations.
Contact us today to schedule a demonstration and streamline your university’s immunization requirement management.
