PRP Electronic Resource Request Form

About the Program

Category: Information Technology (Best in Category)

Year: 2023

​The San Bernardino County Department of Public Health (DPH) Preparedness and Response Program (PRP) works to prepare for emergencies caused by bioterrorism, infectious disease, and other public health threats through the development and exercise of comprehensive public health emergency preparedness and response plans. During the COVID-19 pandemic, PRP was part of a larger team dedicated to the task of supporting the distribution of vaccinations, COVID-19 tests, and ancillary medical supplies to 300+ locations throughout San Bernardino County over a 2-year period. Their role involved storage and allocation of supplies. In order to allocate supplies countywide, a team of specialists (non-PRP staff) was formed to order, prepare, and distribute hundreds of thousands of ancillary medical supplies/vaccines. Part of their system of allocation involved using PRP's paper-based forms to place orders for certain supplies, such as N-95s. Due to the pandemic, the supply requests were dramatically increased which placed a strain on the inefficient paper-based inventory order, approval, and distribution processes used by PRP resulting in operational difficulties not only for their team, but for every program/team brought in to help. The Department of Public Health Information Technology (HIT) program was brought in to help modernize PRP's order request process by replacing the paper-based forms and manual signature approvals with an electronic ordering form that was tied directly to the inventory supplies to show real-time availability of supply inventory.