Enabling technology to transform and modernize CDC's vaccine ordering and management in support of the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) operates the largest and most complex vaccine supply chain in the United States, primarily funded by the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program and distributing over 100 million doses annually. This supply chain connects 64 immunization programs, over 44,000 provider sites, six vaccine manufacturers and a centralized distributor with CDC's back office and internal business partners. For over a decade, this program operated with an outdated and inefficient operating model. As VFC and related programs grew, the technology needs associated with managing these programs also grew in terms of both scale and complexity. Faced with new VFC requirements, such as the implementation of a national pediatric vaccine stockpile and required changes in funding practices, NCIRD was forced to reevaluate its entire operating model for vaccine delivery and accountability. On December 13, 2010, CDC deployed the Vaccine Tracking System (VTrckS) to connect all of the components of this complex supply chain from purchasing and ordering to the fulfillment and distribution of the vaccine to the provider locations. Implementing VTrckS required great coordination between the numerous internal and external stakeholders to achieve an innovative supply chain tracking system with electronic interchanges between agencies to ensure an integrated solution. Based on SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) technology, VTrckS has, for the first time, allowed the CDC to track ordering patterns at the health care provider level, in response to a vaccine shortage or a disease outbreak. This type of proactive management of a national shortage is just one example of how the ability to obtain real-time accurate reporting shifts the focus of public health resources from low-value data gathering efforts to high-value decision making.