Vaccine Clinic Finder transitioned to healthdirect Service Finder

The Vaccine Clinic Finder, which helped Australians find clinics and book COVID-19 vaccination appointments, has been retired, with bookings now available in the recently refreshed healthdirect Service Finder.

The Vaccine Clinic Finder was used more than 52 million times since 2021, one of the most used government-funded digital tools ever built.

The move to combine the two tools — Vaccine Clinic Finder and healthdirect Service Finder — included expanding connectivity with online booking providers so users have the option of a broader range of bookable health appointments.

The healthdirect Service Finder provides information on more than 300,000 health services, including 7,400 COVID-19 vaccine services, 4,800 flu vaccination clinics at pharmacies and GPs, 7,700 general practices and more than 300 other searchable health service types, including allied health services.

Healthdirect Australia launched the healthdirect Service Finder in 2015 and it helped nearly 800,000 people per month find the right care at the right time. The enhanced version, relaunched in April 2023, has more than 1.2 million users per month.

Functionality and enhancements for upgraded healthdirect Service Finder

Healthdirect Australia has also upgraded the usability of the healthdirect Service Finder. Users can filter search results by preferences such as: Open now; billing (including bulk billing); appointment type (including telehealth, phone or online service, and home visit); and facilities preferences (including accessible parking, wheelchair access, accessible toilet and free parking). There are also improvements to search functionality for rural and remote users.

To improve accessibility, the website has been optimised for use with screen readers and features fuzzy search (incorrect spelling) and synonym search (type 'eye doctor' instead of 'ophthalmologist') to remove barriers to finding the right service type.

To refer your website users to the Service Finder, simply link to healthdirect.gov.au/australian-health-services. You can also find Service Finder assets to promote the tool, including social media tiles and A3 posters, at about.healthdirect.gov.au/healthdirect-service-finder-assets.