Beaumont Health Triples Server Capacity After Crush of Patients Crashed It

Nearly 10 times the usual number of patients trying to use Beaumont Health’s registration system Friday sent the system crashing. By the weekend, though, Beaumont Health not only had it back up, but officials had more than tripled its server capacity after experiencing the overwhelming demand regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. Thousands of patients attempted to sign up for a myBeaumontChart account on Friday after Beaumont announced it would soon begin vaccinating people age 65 and older.

“In the health care information technology space, having thousands of patients trying to register at once is unprecedented and our servers were maxed out. It’s similar to what happens when people try to purchase concert tickets as soon as they go on sale and everyone cannot get through at the same time,” Beaumont Health Chief Information Officer Hans Keil said. “I’m proud we more than tripled our capacity so quickly. We are rapidly working to add even more.”

On a typical day, Beaumont processes approximately 900 new myBeaumontChart accounts. On Friday, nearly 9,000 patients activated their accounts, but thousands of others could not access the website. At one point, more than 25,000 users simultaneously attempted to register for myBeaumontChart.

Almost 1 million Beaumont patients have myBeaumontChart, a secure online health portal that connects people with their health records, medical test information and appointments. Over the next few months, Beaumont will email personal invitations to patients via myBeaumontChart to schedule an appointment when they become eligible for the vaccine based on the state’s criteria and as doses become available.

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“We are thrilled to see this kind of interest in the vaccine. Our staff will continue to monitor our systems and expand capacity as needed. The vaccine is our ticket out of this pandemic, and our Beaumont team will do whatever we can to get as many people vaccinated as possible,” Keil said.

Right now, Beaumont can vaccinate more than 3,200 people per day at the Beaumont Service Center in Southfield and the health system plans to expand to additional sites soon.

Based on the governor’s recent announcement about moving to Phase 1B, Beaumont will begin vaccinating people age 65 and older starting Monday, Jan. 11. Frontline essential workers, such as teachers, who are also part of the Phase 1B group, should contact their employer or local health department to discuss their vaccination options. Beaumont must follow state and federal guidelines for vaccine distribution.

A detailed, regularly updated, website with Frequently Asked Questions about the vaccine is available here: https://www.beaumont.org/covid-vaccine.