Columbia University and New York City-based FairChoice Systems, Inc., have signed a multi-year commercialization agreement that will bring to market an online student health information system (IS) developed and implemented by Columbia’s Student Health Services. Colleges and universities in 37 states require Meningococcal Conjugate vaccination (or, alternatively, Meningococcal education) as a requirement for college attendance, and 20 states require Hepatitis B vaccination. To meet these requirements, many U.S. universities collate, verify, and report vaccination compliance information manually, at the start of each school year, for returning students and at the beginning of each registration period for new students. The web-based FairChoice solution is designed to replace this time-intensive process.
“Low compliance rates increase the risk of a disease outbreak, while the inaccessibility of paper records can hinder the ability of officials to react in the event of an outbreak,” explains Kathryn Clark, who previously managed Student Health Services operations at Columbia’s medical center campus and now serves as vice president of health solutions at FairChoice. Under the terms of the agreement, FairChoice will extend the capabilities of the original system to include automation of other reporting requirements, including MMR vaccination tracking and student insurance enrollment. “FairChoice can clearly benefit other colleges and universities that are struggling with the cost of compliance while ensuring that public health mandates are met,” says Ryan Armbrust, the licensing officer from Columbia Technology Ventures who brokered the deal.
Source: News Blaze