Responding to the pandemic: CareMessage

As COVID-19 vaccines began to become available, CareMessage turned its focus toward applying best practices to the vaccine rollout, vaccine-focused interventions and administration. As the COVID-19 vaccine was distributed to health centers nationwide at varying rates, health centers used CareMessage to educate and inform patients on vaccine safety, efficacy and availability to help increase vaccinations and streamline health center operations. 

Nine of the 13 health centers in Massachusetts, including Boston Healthcare for the Homeless, Lynn Community Health Center and Whittier Street Health, used CareMessage to send vaccine-related messaging to their patients. These included messaging about eligibility, second dose and booster reminders, scheduling appointments, walk-in availability and vaccine confidence messaging. In total, Massachusetts clinics sent over 536,000 messages in 2020-21 to their patients regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.

Since March of 2020, CareMessage has signed a total of 191 safety net organizations to CMLight, comprising 43 free and charitable clinics, 121 FQHCs, and 27 other organizations including community organizations, public health departments, and tribal health centers. This represents an additional 3.42 million under-resourced patients reached through CMLight across the country.