Like others we’ve heard from, Wendy thought it would be hard to use CAIR. But within a week she was up and running with it. Now, it takes only about 5 minutes or so to enter a new record into CAIR. “It’s very user-friendly,” she adds.

CAIR has made the clinic flow faster. We print out the routing slip, the provider reviews it and approves the vaccine needed. It’s a much faster method.”

As the person who manages the vaccine inventory in CAIR, Wendy appreciates how easy it is to use and run inventory reports. She also likes being able to record a patient’s TB test. “It’s a good addition to the system.”

Her favorite part of CAIR?  Inventory management and reports—as well as being able to print school forms and patient immunization records. Wendy is happy to be a CAIR Champion and says decisively that she would never go back to the old pre-CAIR days. “It’s very helpful and prevents children from getting over-immunized.”

Shanta Ramdeholl, RN, PHN, MSN-Ed is the Clinical & Administrative Director of Juvenile Justice Center Medical Services in San Leandro, affiliated with Children's Hospital Oakland and a CAIR user for more than five years! Shanta’s office vaccinates about 7 to 10 patients a day.

She recalls that when she was getting started she worried that CAIR would be hard to use. But she was very glad it took only a short time to master. Now as an experienced user, Shanta is reassuring to anyone who might be nervous in getting started. “It’s absolutely easy to use. I have staff who are definitely not computer savvy/literate yet they are able to access and use the system without any difficulty.”

“Before using CAIR, information was not easily accessible, or organized. Now, all immunization information is at one location rather than reviewing many, many charts to find what I need.” As a CAIR champion, Shanta reports that it takes only 2-4 minutes to enter a patient’s immunization information in CAIR.  “This system is an amazing tool to enter and retrieve information!”

When asked if CAIR allows her staff to do anything they weren’t able to do before, Shanta explains that “we used to have to spend time reviewing the chart to see what vaccines were given and document when a kid is leaving.” It's so much easier to look this up in CAIR. She also loves the inventory tracking, which used to be done manually. “CAIR makes it wonderful, because the inventory is automatically deducted from the stock.”  And last but not least, Shanta appreciates printing the school record so the family gets an updated record too.

When asked what she like best about CAIR, Shanta had plenty to say. “It’s user-friendly, organizes the information and makes it easily accessible both for school records and for us. And being able to print reports when we need to provide information about productivity is another plus.”

In sum, says Shanta with much enthusiasm, “CAIR makes our workload much easier and far more efficient. We have kids leaving the Juvenile Hall to go home on a daily basis, and printing their information is much better than going through the chart to document the vaccines they receive. I would really like to talk more health partners into using CAIR because it is a great repository for this information. Love it!”

Would she ever go back to working without CAIR?  “Absolutely not!” she quipped. “I will do everything in my power to get them on board very quickly. And if you know me, please don't tell me anything is impossible. I will prove you wrong!”

Additional information for Local Health Departments (LHDs) can be found here.

My name is Bernice Moore and I’m a Health Technician at the Ontario Montclair School District in San Bernardino County where I’ve been working for the past year.

Before I started to use CAIR, I definitely did not think it would be easy. But when it came time to get trained, I learned what I need to know in about 10 minutes!

You don’t need much computer background to learn CAIR. It is fairly self-explanatory and easy to maneuver. And, if you are have a problem, you can always just call the CAIR Help Desk.

CAIR made my job absolutely easier and more efficient. For example, before CAIR, it was difficult to get a copy of immunizations if a parent misplaced their “yellow card.”  Now with CAIR, student records are more up-to-date and fewer students will be considered ‘non-compliant.’

CAIR made it possible to do something I never would have been able to do previously. I found 25 of our students on CAIR who had their Tdap booster shot and they had never let me know they had it. We were able to use this information to make our records more accurate.

My favorite part of CAIR is the simplicity and ease in which I can find a student and their record (and accuracy too!).

Simply put, I would never want to not have access to CAIR, it would make my records incomplete.