Getting Started

Basics on how to begin using VaCRO

Unzip VaCRO

VaCRO must be unzipped before it can be used. To unzip VaCRO, find the folder in which the Pitt VaCRO ZIP archive was saved after it was downloaded. Right-click the Pitt VaCRO ZIP archive and click "Extract to Pitt VaCRO\" as shown in the Figure 1. A folder entitled "Pitt VaCRO" should appear. See Figure 2.

Figure 1: Unzipping Pitt VaCRO using WinRAR

Figure 2: Pitt VaCRO Folder

Launch VaCRO

After unzipping VaCRO, find the Microsoft Excel file entitled "VaCRO". See Figure 3. Make sure that none of the contents in the "Pitt Vacro" folder are removed or changed. VaCRO will not work if the file locations are changed. More information about the contents in this "Pitt VaCRO" folder can be found in the User Manual.

Open the "VaCRO" file. An MS-Excel spreadsheet will open. For first-time VaCRO users, a message saying "SECURITY WARNING Macros have been disabled" will appear. If so, click the "Enable Content" button as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 3: Pitt VaCRO folder and files

Figure 4: Enable macros

Click the "Launch VaCRO" button, as shown in Figure 5. After clicking the "Launch VaCRO" button, the VaCRO application will appear. See Figure 6. Follow the instructions as listed on the "VaCRO" MS-Excel file or in the User Manual.

Figure 5: Launch VaCRO button

Figure 6: VaCRO Application

VaCRO Parameters

The following parameters must be entered for VaCRO to calculate optimal cut-off times for vial reconstitution:

  • Vaccine Name

    This parameter describes the name of the vaccine for which VaCRO is being used, since VaCRO can only compute optimal cut-off times for one vaccine at a time. Entering a vaccine name is optional, but recommended so different results can be organized by vaccine type.

  • Number of Sessions Remaining

    This parameter describes the number of immunization sessions (i.e., work days) before the next replenishment (i.e., shipment) of vaccines. This parameter must be entered as a positive integer (e.g., 15).

  • Average Daily Demand

    This parameter describes the average number of vaccination requests each day. This parameter can either be an integer (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4) or a decimal value (e.g., 23.56).

    If the Average Daily Demand is unknown, use the "Average Daily Demand Tool" include in this package.

  • Vials Remaining

    This parameter describes the number of vaccine vials currently in the clinic's inventory. This parameter must be entered as a positive integer

  • Doses per Vial

    This parameter describes the number of vaccine doses in each vial before any reconstitution. It is assumed that all of the vials have the same number of doses. This parameter must be selected from a drop-down list.

  • Hours of Operation

    These parameters describe the times at which the immunization sessions begins and ends. These times must be entered in a 24-hour time format (e.g., 13:00 instead of 1:00 PM).

  • Guaranteed to Stay Open Until

    This parameter describes the time until which the clinic is guaranteed to serve patients, regardless of remaining inventory and sessions remaining until replenishment. This parameter must be entered in a 24-hour time format. Additionally, this time must be within the times listed under the Hours of Operation.

  • Make Decisions Every _ Minutes

    This parameter describes the level of detail at which the calculations are performed. Choosing to make a decision every 1 minute instead of 10 minutes will result in a more exact policy, but will take longer to calculate. It is recommended to select a value of 10 or 14 minutes for this parameter in order to balance computational effort and practicality. This parameter must be selected from the drop-down list.

Average Daily Demand Tool

This tool is intended to be a supplemental tool for users who do not have patient demand data. To launch this tool, click the MS-Excel file entitled "Average Daily Demand Tool". See Figure 7. Upon launching the "Average Daily Demand Tool", three different tabs will appear at the bottom of the spreadsheet. See Figure 8. The "Instructions" tab (Figure 9) contains detailed instructions for how to use the "Average Daily Demand Tool". The "EXAMPLE Calculator Log Sheet" shows a complete and labeled example of the "Calculator Log Sheet", which is used to determine average daily demand. The "Calculator Log Sheet" contains a tabular log sheet that can be used to record patient arrivals. Once these arrivals have been recorded in the "Calculator Log Sheet", the average daily demand will be calculated in the upper-left-hand corner of the "Calculator Log Sheet". See Figure 10.

Figure 7: Launch the Average Daily Demand Tool

Figure 8: Average Daily Demand Tool Tabs

Figure 9: Average Daily Demand Calculator Instructions

Figure 10: Average Daily Demand

VaCRO: Vaccine Clinic Reconstitution Optimizer

VaCRO was developed at the University of Pittsburgh by Gian-Gabriel Garcia, Lisa Maillart, Maryam Mofrad, Bryan Norman, and Jayant Rajgopal.

This work has been supported by National Science Foundation grant CMMI-1131172.

This website was made by Gian-Gabriel Garcia using Bootstrap's CSS and Java framework