To improve immunisation rates in Western Sydney, GPs are invited to be a part of the AuTOMATIC Study to determine whether personalised SMS reminders are effective for improving the uptake and timeliness of routine vaccination among children.

The study is led by researchers at the Telethon Kids Institute, SmartVax in Perth, Western Australia and supported by WentWest as the Western Sydney Primary Health Network. The platform has been built to integrate with the SmartVax automated SMS reminder module. This SmartVax reminder module can also interrogate with Best Practice and MedicalDirector systems to send automated vaccine reminders to parents.

Sending text message reminders to parents may be an effective and low-cost option to improve vaccine uptake and timeliness, reducing the risk of vaccine-preventable infections in young children.

Participating practices will receive access to a free dedicated platform that can:

  • Send automated reminders for routine childhood vaccinations
  • Evaluate how effective the platform is performing (e.g. whether it improves uptake and/or timeliness of vaccination)
  • Minimise manual effort for clinic reception and staff.

If your practice is interested in participating in this study, please complete the Expression of Interest form and send it to our Helpdesk at support@wentwest.com.au alternatively, speak to your Practice Development Officer on how you can get involved.