How to Validate Vaccination Status with The Commons Project and ServiceNow

As vaccination rates continue to increase around the world, employers need to be able to verify health status credentials. With some jurisdictions requiring vaccination mandates and others banning them, employers are navigating a complex and evolving landscape of regulations for verifying vaccination and test status.

Verifying proof of vaccination poses a logistical challenge for companies, as it can be a complicated and inefficient process without a digital solution. In the US in particular, paper CDC cards are prone to fraud and are hard to verify. Most organizations have reverted to a manual process, some having hired hundreds of contract workers to verify sensitive health information of their workforce in an attempt to create a safer everyday working environment.

To resolve this challenge, non-profit The Commons Project and VCI co-developed SMART® Health Cards. A SMART® Health Card is a paper or digital version of an individual's clinical information, such as vaccination history or test results. They allow people to keep a copy of their records on hand and easily share this information with others if they choose.

With SMART® Health Cards now in the hands of hundreds of millions of individuals, the process of verifying vaccination credentials becomes streamlined and reliable.

How to Get a SMART® Health Card

SMART® Health Cards have become the de-facto U.S. standard for vaccination records, with 15+ US states currently issuing them, expanding to over 30 by the end of the first quarter, and 100% coverage expected in 2022. With key states, health systems, and pharmacies including Walmart, CVS, and Walgreens all adopting the standard, about 200 million Americans now have access to their SMART® Health Cards.

Countries across the globe, including Canada and Japan, have also adopted the SMART® Health Card as a standard. As of January 2022, over 300 million people have access to these digital COVID-19 vaccination records globally.  

Visit this list to see the CommonTrust Network’s Registry of SMART® Health Card issuers.

Once you have a SMART® Health Card, it can be stored in a digital wallet (such as Apple wallet, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay) or easily shared with an app or service you trust.

Verifying SMART® Health Cards

The verification of SMART® Health Cards requires two key elements --  a trust network that enables businesses to verify the issuers of SMART Health Cards, and the technology to scan and verify them.

The Commons Project maintains The CommonTrust Network, a registry of trusted data sources that issue SMART® Health Cards that are vetted by The Commons Project.  

From a technology standpoint, the Commons Project developed the SMART® Health Card Verifier API, which is now integrated with ServiceNow® Vaccination Status, available in ServiceNow Workplace Service Delivery and Safe Workplace solutions.

ServiceNow Vaccination Status + SMART® Health Card Verifier API

ServiceNow Vaccination Status is an application available in ServiceNow Workplace Service Delivery and Safe Workplace solutions.  Vaccination Status enables organizations to track the status of employee vaccinations in the workplace, including support for subsequent booster shots. Using the app, organizations can collect vaccination data for workforce planning as needed, based on business requirements and local and state guidelines. Employees can submit documentation of completed vaccinations to meet their employer’s health and safety requirements or can request vaccination exemptions.

To verify SMART® Health Cards within the ServiceNow Vaccination Status application, organizations can work with ServiceNow and The Commons Project to integrate the SMART® Health Card Verifier API.

Here’s how it works:

Employee Experience:

• Step 1: An employee uploads their SMART® Health Card as an attachment in the Report Vaccination record producer form, which is available in the Vaccination Status app within the Workplace Service Delivery and Safe Workplace solutions.
• Step 2: ServiceNow workflows validate the vaccination information, utilizing the SMART® Health Card Verifier API to confirm that the card has not been tampered with and that the issuer is part of the CommonTrust Network.
• Step 3: If the SMART® Health Card passes validation, the employee’s vaccine response is approved. If the information is not automatically validated, a work note is left in the record and the employer can manually review and verify the information.

Pre-Work

• Sign up with The Commons Project to get access to test API keys and receive commercial terms and documentation.

• Once a contract is signed, the verification API is activated.

Technical Configuration for ServiceNow Admins

Refer to this documentation for full instructions, but key steps include:

• From Connection & Credentials > Connection & Credential Aliases, open the delivered ‘CommonTrust Network Validator Service’ record and enter the required information, including the API key.
• From Flow Designer, activate the ‘Auto-validate vaccine response’ flow.
• From Vaccination Status > Properties, enable the ‘Allow validation engine approvals to update Vaccine Review Outcome records’ property to automatically approve records if the SMART® Health Card passes validation.

This integration not only offers your employees an easy and secure way to share their health information, it streamlines the verification process for the employer. By integrating the SMART® Health Card Verifier API and ServiceNow Vaccination Status, employers have an end-to-end solution for their workforce’s COVID health status management, with digital verification of vaccination status, process for requesting a vaccine exemption, daily health attestations, contact tracing capabilities and more.

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