Every flu season, patients come in for their annual physical, or for help managing blood pressure they can’t quite get under control. They’re due for a flu shot too, but that’s not why they came in, so it never comes up.

Throughout the 2025 flu season, we ran an SMS recall program across our primary-care network to see if we could increase the rate of flu vaccination. The result? Reaching out to patients before their visit led to a 19% relative increase in adult flu vaccinations. Simply reminding patients that they’re eligible is one of the most effective ways clinics may address dipping flu rates.

How the Program Works

VaxCare runs the reminders for enrolled clinics using the records they already keep, such as who’s due for a flu shot and who has a visit coming up.

Patients with a visit already booked get automated reminders in the days before, prompting them to get their flu shot while they’re there. Patients who are due but have nothing scheduled get a one-time message inviting them to come in.

Every message goes out from the practice’s own number, the one their patients recognize.

These pre-visit reminders carry most of the gain, and because they’re tied to a scheduled visit, they trigger automatically.

By the Numbers

Across our network, adults who received the reminders were vaccinated at 23.62%, versus 19.84% at clinics that weren’t running the program, a 19% relative increase. That’s roughly double what flu-reminder programs have reached before. A 2024 review of earlier trials put their average closer to a 9% increase.

One possible reason for the gap that isn’t captured in the trial literature: these messages came from the patient’s own practice. Patients are more likely to respond and act when they’re familiar with who’s messaging them.

And these aren’t one-season results. The relative gains held within rounding distance across the 2024 and 2025 seasons, even as the network grew.

High Volumes, High Returns

Broken out by practice volume, the strongest response came from the highest-volume practices, the large multi-site systems that see and vaccinate the most adults each season. In that group, adult flu vaccination rose about 36%, the program’s best result anywhere in the network.

That’s a high watermark, but for a health system, the rate is one of several factors, including scale and investment. At the network average, simply sending automated text reminders to 100,000 adults would lead to several thousand additional flu shots, with no added phone calls or staff time. The reminders run off appointments already on the books, so no additional lift is needed, regardless of how many patients are in the network.

And the results hold for VaxCare’s pediatric program, Vax-to-School, which has already been published in a peer-reviewed journal (Clarke et al., BMC Digital Health, 2025). There, the largest gains came from adolescents, the age group standard outreach gets through to least. Different studies, different age groups, but the same finding: text-based recall reaches the patients other channels miss.

Ready to standardize care across your vaccination network?

Click below to learn more about simplifying your vaccine operations and boosting your vaccine revenue through VaxCare’s integrated platform.

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New Flu Season, Same Patients

Left alone, the same patients slip past season after season, and the shots that could have protected them never happen. A well-timed reminder changes that. Last season it raised adult flu vaccination 19% across our network.

The reminders run off existing appointments, are sent on their own, and honor opt-outs automatically. Once clinics enroll, whether individually or as an entire system, the real change is in who they’re able to reach. Now the adults who were always eligible can finally hear from their own practice in time to act.

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The post How Automatic Text Reminders Raised Adult Flu Vaccination 19% appeared first on VaxCare.

What the Order Does

Timeline of Key Events

What’s Next

This remains a developing federal policy matter that providers, practice leaders, and vaccine program stakeholders should continue to monitor closely. The March 16 court order represents a significant, but temporary event. While the challenged January 2026 schedule changes and recent ACIP appointments are on hold, the case is still actively moving through the courts, and an appeal is likely. 

While next steps will depend on the outcome of the appeal process, VaxCare’s policy team is continuing to closely monitor federal guidance, medical society recommendations, updates to payer policy, and operational considerations for practices.

There are currently no changes to VaxCare’s platforms, workflows, or operational models as a result of these developments.

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These developments have direct implications for clinical practice, patient care, and operational planning, and understanding these changes will be essential for staff involved in managing vaccination programs of all sizes. Our latest webinar covers the essentials and more, from high-level policy updates to what that means for you and your patients.

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Topics

• Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Updates
• Influenza Updates
• COVID-19 Updates
• Respiratory Season with VaxCare

Vaccine Updates

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)

New Infant Product and Adult Recommendations

Available Products

VaxCare’s platform enables partners to administer Medicare Part D vaccines to patients in your offices.

If you are interested in ordering pediatric, maternal, or adult RSV products, please contact sales@veexcare.com.

Vaccine Updates

Influenza

Recent Product Updates

Available Products

Vaccine Updates

COVID-19

Timing and Product Updates

Available Products

Pfizer’s previously authorized COVID-19 product for patients aged 6 months–4 years is no longer available. Any Partner who forecasted that product will instead receive Moderna’s Spikevax for the 6 month–4 year age cohort. Please look out for relevant communication if your practice is affected by this change.

Attestation of At-Risk Condition

To comply with new FDA indications, VaxCare is implementing a risk factor attestation for COVID-19 vaccine administration.

Providers will be required to confirm the patient has at least one condition that puts the patient at risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19 when administering a COVID-19 vaccine to patients aged 6 months through 64 years.

This attestation will ensure VaxCare and Partners comply with the new FDA label for COVID-19 vaccines.

Additionally, providers are encouraged to document the patient’s condition that puts them at risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19 in the medical chart.

At-Risk Conditions

The CDC considers patients with the following conditions, along with others, as having a health condition that puts them at risk for severe COVID-19:

VaxCare Updates

Respiratory Season with VaxCare

VaxCare’s Adherence Programs

What to Expect from Adherence Programs

Targeted Programs

• Pediatric Patient Outreach (Sent to Guardian)
• Adult Patient Outreach

_{VaxCare will send your patients reminder text messages on behalf of your practice.}

What’s the impact?

19%

Average Improvement Seen Through VaxCare’s Adherence Programs.

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Simplifying the VFC Workflow

VaxCare Adapts to Each Jurisdiction’s Program Policies

• State-specific policies for Medicaid/CHIP VFC eligibility.
• Clinic-specific policies, including underinsured, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and secondary Medicaid children.
• VFC administration in 27 states, with additional states opening in the coming months.
• VaxCare can also support tracking for other public stocks, including Section 317 doses and state-specific stocks.

One Workflow

To track, manage, and bill all inventories.

Point of Care Eligibility

For patient coverage and stock selection.

Convenient Reporting

To streamline ordering and auditing.

VFC Billing Expansion

Currently Open States: 29
_{VaxCare is working on securing payer contracts to open VFC billing in all states.}

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This meta-analysis highlights the most common challenges that undermine performance and outlines practical opportunities to elevate vaccination programs to best-in-class performance.

Who is VaxCare? How Did This Study Originate?

VaxCare is the largest primary care vaccination network in the United States and ranks among the top five vaccine purchasers nationwide. For more than 15 years, VaxCare has been at the forefront of designing, implementing, and innovating integrated solutions to simplify the operational, financial, and logistical complexities of vaccination programs across large healthcare networks.

This study explores the operational hurdles health systems face in managing their vaccine programs, the economic toll of inefficiencies, and their impacts on patient care. In most cases, health systems are not held back by a lack of dedication but by outdated workflows, manual processes, and fragmented system integration. These inefficiencies result in missed vaccination opportunities, unnecessary financial burdens, and diminished patient satisfaction.

Despite a strong desire to improve, three key realities often hinder progress:

•  Low Priority: Vaccines rank low on the list of organizational priorities.
•  Hidden Inefficiencies: The true cost of an inefficient vaccine program is often buried within the broader balance sheet.
•  Competing Resources: The expertise and investment needed for improvement are tied up in other initiatives.

As a result, health systems have increasingly turned to VaxCare for a turnkey solution that enhances efficiency, standardizes processes at scale, and mitigates financial risk. To evaluate whether a partnership is the right fit, VaxCare coordinates with the system to perform a comprehensive assessment of their current program. This provides executive leadership with a clear understanding of their current vaccination program and identifies actionable opportunities for improvement.

Understanding the Partnership

VaxCare’s Assessment Process

From Discovery to Assessment

Every enterprise partnership begins with a formal discovery process focused on four critical vaccine program elements: patient access, patient safety, workflow efficiencies, and financials.

The result? VaxCare is able to provide actionable insights tailored to each system’s unique goals and based on a synthesis of key stakeholder interviews, on-site visits, and a comprehensive analysis of all immunization data.

Challenges Facing Health Systems

Key Insights Uncovered

VaxCare’s 10 most recent discovery exercises highlight the recurring challenges and opportunities of vaccine programs across the industry and how they can be transformed.

Patient Access & Experience

Limited Access for Older Patients: Health systems face difficulty providing Medicare Part D-covered products to their 65+ patient population. Essential vaccines like Shingrix and Tdap are often unavailable, leading these patients to visit pharmacies or competitors. This is both inconvenient for the patient and a missed financial opportunity for the system.

Inconsistent Stock Availability: Despite managing vaccine availability at an aggregate level, individual clinic locations frequently experience inventory availability issues, contributing to missed immunizations and diminished patient satisfaction.

Outcomes & Safety

Safety Gaps at Point-of-Care: According to the ISMP’s National Vaccine Errors Reporting Program, ambulatory vaccine errors are the most common mistake across practice types. Despite the presence of technology like Epic Lot Manager and traditional barcode scanners, safety checks at the point of care are often absent or inconsistent. This exposes the system and staff to liability and undermines patient safety and compliance.

Clinical & Non-Clinical Workflows

Workflow Inefficiencies: Many health systems lack standardized, integrated workflows for non-clinical tasks, resulting in inefficient processes that waste time and introduce variability. The reliance on manual work not only increases operational burdens but also creates opportunities for loss.

Economic Results

Inventory Losses & Manual Handling Costs: Vaccine management tools are not consistently leveraged. On average, we find health systems often experience inventory losses between 8-15%. High costs associated with sourcing newer products, such as pediatric RSV and COVID-19, continue to strain budgets and erode profit.

Economic Realities

Vaccine Profitability and Capital Investment

Despite their strong negotiating leverage, most health systems face hidden challenges that erode the already slim profit margins on vaccines. As economic pressures intensify, the cost of tying up capital in inventory is increasingly difficult to justify without the visibility needed to accurately analyze program performance.

Performing such an in-depth analysis on a regular basis is almost impossible without a comprehensive tracking system that follows each dose from purchase through to reimbursement. Without this end-to-end visibility, health systems are left in the dark about their actual profit reality.

Vaccine Capital

Financial Weight and Risk
Health systems face significant financial challenges in maintaining vaccine inventory, with annual purchases and typical on-hand values leading to reduced financial flexibility and risks of spoilage. These factors create an unnecessary burden, forcing health systems to carefully balance the need for vaccine availability against the opportunity costs and risks of maintaining high inventory levels.

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Scalability and Long-Term Value

Supporting the System’s Strategic Vision

As health systems look to scale strategically, leadership is faced with the challenge of expanding access while maintaining consistent clinical standards and reducing operational expenditures.

Health systems are increasingly recognizing the value of partnering with VaxCare to overhaul their vaccine programs and address these deep-rooted issues with scalable solutions that enhance patient care, operational efficiency, and financial sustainability.

Scalable Solutions for Broader Network Integration

VaxCare offers an integrated platform that reduces variability and ensures a consistent level of quality care across the entire health system. This reduction in manual effort directly leads to improved job satisfaction and lower administrative burden. This consistency is crucial for CEOs and COOs looking to expand services across locations without an increase in operational complexity.

Value-Based Care and Competitive Positioning

By focusing on patient adherence and ensuring access to all vaccines, health systems are positioned to lead in value-based care initiatives. This competitive edge supports contracts and incentives tied to population health in addition to attracting more patients. Two of VaxCare’s automatic adherence programs (Vax-to-School and Adult Flu Outreach) have demonstrated immunization rate improvements of up to 20% at no additional cost.

A focus on preventive care aligns well with value-based care initiatives, enabling systems to meet payer expectations and improve population health metrics.

Improved Safety at the Point-of-Care

By automating safety protocols at the point of care, VaxCare’s platform helps catch errors before they’re realized. With end-to-end dose-level tracking, VaxCare is uniquely positioned to bring these insights to light. Recent internal data shows that, in addition to alerting users to common issues related to vaccine orders, platform safeguards identified and prevented vaccine administration errors in approximately 0.5% of all recorded administrations.

This validates VaxCare’s role in significantly mitigating risk and ensuring compliance while aligning with the health system’s goals of delivering safe, high-quality care, reducing liability, and adhering to regulatory standards.

Financial Sustainability and Capital Redeployment

VaxCare’s business model eliminates the need to pre-purchase and hold onto expensive vaccine inventory. This frees up significant funds that can be redirected toward strategic priorities such as hiring additional staff, modernizing locations, expanding high-value service lines, or strengthening financial resilience. With VaxCare, the choice is yours.

Looking Ahead

A Strategic Partner for a Healthier Future

Health systems have the scale and resources to approach vaccine management in ways smaller practices simply can’t. But operating at scale with so many priorities competing for attention, it isn’t always clear which path will generate the greatest impact.

Wait and See
Doing nothing is always an option. However, financial and operational performance are unlikely to improve as the market realigns to become more consumer-focused.

Invest to Perform
Meaningful investments can improve vaccination services and bring DIY conveniences in-house, but new benefits also represent new expenses and potential complications.

Partner to Transform
Select a capable partner to address the additional risk and streamline work, while insourcing focus and scale to deliver an integrated and scalable solution.

By partnering with VaxCare, health systems can transform their vaccine programs into scalable, efficient, and profit-generating solutions.

For health system executives, the value proposition is clear: VaxCare offers a pathway to enhance operational efficiency, improve financial sustainability, and position the health system as a leader in preventive care while easing the burden on frontline staff. VaxCare’s partnership provides not just a service but a strategic advantage that empowers health systems to thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape.

By choosing VaxCare, health systems are advancing the state of healthcare and creating a future one that values preventive care, operational efficiency, and financial strength as foundational elements of patient-centered success.

Schedule an assessment of your vaccine program today to identify the approach that best positions your organization for long-term success.

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As a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), AMH prioritizes assistance to vulnerable populations, including women with limited or restricted access to reproductive healthcare. The center’s dedication to evidence-based, patient-centered care is pivotal in empowering women in local communities to make informed choices and ensuring that services—including access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARC)—are ready and available for patients.

These sentiments are echoed not only by CMS and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) but also by VaxCare.

The Challenge

Equitable LARC Access

Healthcare practices that offer contraceptive assistance face numerous challenges in providing comprehensive, patient-centered care, particularly when it comes to LARCs. Because they have multiple rural locations, one of the primary obstacles FQHCs like Appalachian Mountain Health face is ensuring that their patients have access to their choice of contraception—not just the options that are convenient to stock.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommend LARCs as the most effective reversible method for preventing unintended pregnancy. However, chronic underinvestment in rural communities, healthcare infrastructure, and public health campaigns have created significant barriers to obtaining essential healthcare services, including family planning and reproductive health.

Translating these recommendations into practical, accessible care requires navigating logistical and financial roadblocks. Clinicians are expected to provide comprehensive counseling on all contraceptive options, prioritize patient preferences, and respect their right to make informed decisions.

This ideal scenario can be difficult to achieve when many practices are constrained by limited resources, staff availability, and reimbursement challenges. Keeping LARC devices in stock and on hand simply becomes logistically difficult.

The Solution

Improving Access to LARC with VaxCare

VaxCare enables practices to easily carry a complete range of contraceptive options, including all IUDs, the implant, and DMPA. This ensures that every patient has access to the best solution for their needs and that every practice has the support it needs to focus on care.

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Same-Day Device Access

Offering LARC to all who are medically eligible, and facilitating the availability of same-day insertion for interested patients is just one way OB-GYNs and reproductive health care clinicians can improve contraceptive access—an evidence-based practice encouraged by the ACOG.

By partnering with VaxCare, Appalachian Mountain Health is better able to ensure their patients have access to LARC as a preferred method on the day of their visit—planned or otherwise. No rescheduling, no missed opportunities—the care they need, when they need it.

“This morning, I utilized our new VaxCare Hub to verify a patient’s insurance coverage for Nexplanon and provide the patient with a device the same day she sought services. I found the process to be straightforward and through our partnership with VaxCare, our stock of Nexplanon will automatically be replenished within days,” remarked Kaitlyn Breiten, WHNP-BC. “This is an incredible improvement over the standard procurement process – I’m in awe of the ease and simplicity of VaxCare’s system.”

Bringing Care to Medical Deserts

The availability of same-day LARC means that AMH Robbinsville is now able to offer on-demand Paragard insertion in addition to their existing contraceptive options. That change also makes AMH the only healthcare provider in the county to offer the most effective form of contraception available. And because VaxCare automatically monitors their stock and reorders contraceptive implants, IUDs, and DMPA as needed, locations stay prepared for every patient without needing to worry about running out of essential products.

By eliminating the inequity of limited geographical access, AMH is able to focus on the quality of care it provides and create better health opportunities for women throughout the region.

Real-Time Verification

With VaxCare’s platform, insurance eligibility is verified instantly at the point of care. This provides practices and their patients with clear, real-time information about coverage and costs and has allowed AMH to consult with patients about their health needs regardless of their location.

Kim Holloway, a Women’s Health Medical Assistant with AMH, often verifies LARC coverage through VaxCare for their Sylva and Peachtree locations. This gives their staff the confidence to schedule a LARC insertion and reassure their patients about device coverage in real time.

Appalachian Mountain Health and VaxCare

A Big Win for Contraceptive Health

Appalachian Mountain Health is a vital healthcare lifeline for Western North Carolina. As the primary Community Health Center in the region, AMH’s partnership with VaxCare reinforces its commitment to improving local health standards and providing accessible contraceptive care to women in rural areas.

VaxCare’s tool for instantly verifying insurance coverage has streamlined appointments, and same-day availability of LARCs has eliminated many of the logistical and financial barriers that typically hinder access to high-quality reproductive health services.

With no patient left waiting due to device shortages or insurance uncertainties, it’s easier than ever for residents of Western North Carolina to receive the care they need. As Kaitlyn Breiten, WHNP-BC, noted, “This is a big win for patients who depend on AMH for their contraceptive needs!”

Through innovative partnerships like this, AMH continues to enhance access to contraception and shines as an example of patient-centered care—ensuring that women, no matter where they live, can confidently access the reproductive healthcare they need and deserve.

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At the heart of APC’s success is a team of highly skilled and compassionate pediatricians and staff committed to the clinic’s vision: revolutionizing pediatric healthcare in Central Arkansas. APC’s mission is to deliver exceptional care and holistic wellness programs, ensuring every child has the foundation for a healthier future.

The Challenges

Rising Costs and Operational Inefficiencies

Like many pediatric practices, APC faced the dual challenge of managing rising healthcare costs and maintaining operational efficiency. Their vaccine program, an essential component of patient care, presented a significant financial burden. With more than $100,000 worth of vaccines in their refrigerators at any given time and an annual vaccine budget exceeding $1 million, APC had to allocate considerable capital to maintaining their inventory.

Additionally, the administrative demands of managing vaccine documentation and compliance were placing strain on APC’s staff, diverting time and attention away from patient care. The clinic needed a solution that would alleviate these financial and operational pressures while enhancing the quality of care for its patients.

The Solution

A Strategic Partnership with VaxCare

In February 2024, APC partnered with VaxCare to transform its vaccine program management. VaxCare’s innovative solution not only took over the management of APC’s vaccine inventory but also purchased its on-hand stock, freeing up $100,000 in capital that could be reinvested in other critical areas of the practice.

Immediate Economic Benefits

The financial impact of the partnership was immediate and significant. As CEO Terri Hollis explains, “Since partnering with VaxCare, we’ve seen a remarkable improvement in profitability. Expenses have decreased by 11%, and our net profit has doubled. This financial uplift has been transformative, allowing us to reinvest in areas that directly benefit both our team and our patients.”

With the newfound financial flexibility, APC increased staff salaries, becoming more competitive in the job market. This investment not only helped retain long-term employees but also boosted staff morale and satisfaction. Furthermore, APC was able to address staffing shortages, ensuring smooth operations and continued high-quality care for patients.

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Enhancing Patient Care Through Expanded Services

The partnership with VaxCare also enabled APC to expand its service offerings. One of the most notable advancements was the integration of behavioral health services into their pediatric care model. By hiring a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), APC could now address the mental and emotional needs of their patients alongside their physical health.

This holistic approach to care has differentiated APC in the market, providing families with comprehensive support under one roof. According to Hollis, “The integration of behavioral health services has been a groundbreaking addition. It not only enhances the care we provide but makes a tangible difference in the lives of our patients and their families.”

Operational Efficiency Gains

Beyond financial and clinical benefits, VaxCare’s technology streamlined APC’s vaccine documentation processes, significantly reducing the administrative burden on staff. By automating much of the documentation, APC minimized human error and freed up time for staff to focus on patient care. This efficiency gain improved both operational workflows and the patient experience.

Arkansas Pediatric Clinic and VaxCare

A Partnership for the Future

The partnership with VaxCare has empowered APC to align its operations with its long-term vision. The clinic is now better positioned to innovate, grow, and continue its mission of delivering exceptional pediatric care.

“The decision to partner with VaxCare has been pivotal. The financial gains have allowed us to make strategic investments that prioritize our people—both patients and employees,” reflects Hollis. “The positive impact on our practice culture, staff well-being, and patient care cannot be overstated. We are excited about the opportunities ahead as we continue to grow and evolve.”

Arkansas Pediatric Clinic’s partnership with VaxCare is a compelling example of how healthcare innovation can drive both financial and clinical success. By addressing key operational challenges and unlocking new opportunities for growth, APC has strengthened its position as a leader in pediatric care, ensuring that every child in their community receives the best possible care.

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Comprising nearly 600 centers—including more than 300 clinics and outpatient centers and 15,000 physicians—CHRISTUS Health is renowned for its commitment to clinical excellence. Recognized nationally, the health system has received many awards, including the 2018 AMGA Acclaim Award for quality and cost of care and a Silver-level recognition from the American Medical Association’s Joy in Medicine™ Health System Recognition Program for clinician well-being.

Despite this distinguished record, CHRISTUS Health recognized opportunities to enhance economic performance and improve operational consistency within its vaccination workflow. Dr. Steven Keuer, CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic President and Chief Medical Officer, underscored the importance of workflows that enable their providers when they received the Joy in Medicine Award: “Our clinicians are the heartbeat of our healing ministry. By investing in them, we are truly able to live our values of integrity, excellence, compassion, and stewardship as we strive to improve the lives of individuals and communities.” However, the lack of a unified, standardized vaccine management system created additional burdens, often diverting associates’ time and focus from direct patient care.

MAKING AN ASSESSMENT

Identifying the Challenges

Before the partnership with VaxCare, vaccine management in CHRISTUS Health clinics presented multiple challenges:

• Economic Uncertainty: According to Justin Simon, PharmD, MBA, System Director, Pharmacy Network Operations, Division of Clinical Excellence, a lack of standardization led to potential economic losses. “Due to lack of standardization, it’s likely some of our clinics had a net margin of -10% on vaccines.”
• Visibility Issues: Clinics managed their vaccine inventory using varied, often paper-based, processes. Without a unified system, it was difficult for CHRISTUS Health to maintain real-time visibility into vaccine stocks across its network.
• Operational Inconsistency: Clinics were independently responsible for the usage, forecasting, and ordering of vaccines and supplies, leading to discrepancies in performance and occasional shortages that required intervention from the central pharmacy team. Valerie Hawkins, Practice Manager at CHRISTUS Health Internal Medicine of Longview, shared insights into the challenges her clinic faced before the VaxCare partnership. “With over 25 years in practice management, I can say that even our clinic would consistently run out of non-seasonal vaccines,” she explained. “We’d be down to the last box, and no one would know because we have 100 priorities in a day — and vaccine management wasn’t one of them.”

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This scattered, ad hoc approach made it clear that a standardized, transparent solution was essential to maintaining CHRISTUS Health’s reputation for excellence while supporting the well-being of its workforce.

Seeking a Partner

A Commitment to Transformation

CHRISTUS Health turned to VaxCare, a leader in vaccine management solutions, seeking an experienced partner capable of transforming and unifying their vaccination processes. As Jean Dib, Corporate Director, Clinical Ambulatory Pharmacy, Division of Clinical Excellence, explained, “We knew a change was important, but with competing priorities, we were looking to adopt a proven system that could standardize more than 100+ clinics.” VaxCare offered the tools to streamline clinic workflows, enhance inventory transparency, and improve economic outcomes. Jean Dib emphasized the alignment between VaxCare’s team and CHRISTUS Health’s mission, stating, “VaxCare provided not only the right tools but also a team whose commitment to excellence and integrity matched our own values.”

Implementation and Outcomes

The Benefits of Partnership

Through their partnership, CHRISTUS Health quickly saw the transformative impact VaxCare could deliver across its network.

Enhanced Economic Performance

One of the initial financial reliefs came when VaxCare purchased over $2.2 million worth of CHRISTUS Health’s existing vaccine inventory, allowing the organization to reallocate that capital. Over time, VaxCare has purchased more than $27 million worth of vaccines on behalf of CHRISTUS Health, providing a consistent cash flow benefit and freeing CHRISTUS Health from the financial responsibility of maintaining vaccine inventory.

Standardized Processes Across Clinics

VaxCare’s system unified CHRISTUS Health’s clinics under a single, automated inventory and vaccine management platform. The VaxCare solution fully integrates with Epic, CHRISTUS Health’s electronic medical record (EMR) system, allowing for seamless documentation and immediate updates across clinics. This standardization resulted in:

• Consistent vaccine availability, reducing the need for central pharmacy interventions.
• Streamlined workflows, where providers and practice managers can focus on patient care while VaxCare handles the vaccine inventory and billing needs.

This automated approach has empowered CHRISTUS Health clinics to eliminate manual inventory management, deliver consistency, and reduce the administrative burden on clinic associates. Valerie Hawkins described the impact of the new system, saying, “It’s a game changer. It tracks all our inventory needs and ensures accountability in our patient chart documentation. I can’t imagine working without it now.”

Visibility and Accountability Across the Network

With VaxCare’s platform, CHRISTUS Health gained a bird’ s-eye view of its entire vaccine inventory. The platform allows leaders to track vaccine usage, forecast demand, and optimize ordering processes across more than 100 clinics. It provides real-time data and insights, enhancing accountability and supporting proactive decision-making.

The partnership has contributed to CHRISTUS Health’s mission by enabling clinics to vaccinate over 210,000 patients in 2023 alone, providing high-quality care without the logistical headaches that previously accompanied vaccine management.

Christus Health and VaxCare

A Commitment to Excellence

The collaboration between CHRISTUS Health and VaxCare has not only improved operational efficiency and economic performance but also upheld CHRISTUS Health’s values of integrity, compassion, and stewardship. For CHRISTUS Health, this partnership represents more than just operational improvements; it embodies their dedication to supporting their clinicians and delivering exceptional care. VaxCare has enabled CHRISTUS Health to focus on what matters most: serving communities with excellence and compassion while remaining at the forefront of innovative healthcare solutions.

• Improved vaccine accountability, tracking, and inventory management
• Lowered costs and increased revenue
• 100% visibility into vaccine management across all clinics
• Rising vaccination rates
• Happier, more productive employees

The collaboration between CHRISTUS Health and VaxCare has not only improved operational efficiency and economic performance but also upheld CHRISTUS Health’s values of integrity, compassion, and stewardship. For CHRISTUS Health, this partnership represents more than just operational improvements; it embodies their dedication to supporting their clinicians and delivering exceptional care. VaxCare has enabled CHRISTUS Health to focus on what matters most: serving communities with excellence and compassion while remaining at the forefront of innovative healthcare solutions.

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The post CHRISTUS Health and the Drive for Visibility, Economic Efficiency and Standardization appeared first on VaxCare.

Tailored for the needs of each practice, the purpose of a vaccine management plan is to simplify the vaccine supply chain, ensuring that vaccines are managed effectively from distribution to administration. Your plan represents the alignment of your immunization program’s goals, the investment of your staff, and the tools they’ve been equipped with to enable their success.

From systems to assist in preventing waste, ensuring optimal stock levels throughout the year, and streamlining the reordering process, the scope of the plan will vary from location to location. But the goal remains the same—an organized and easily maintained blueprint at the core of your vaccine program.

Without a vaccine management plan, your practice is more likely to:

• Spend extra attention on time-consuming manual tasks
• Put your staff and practice at increased risk of vaccine-related errors
• Be at the mercy of your vaccine inventory, with overall limited visibility

Avoiding these pitfalls is critical for vaccinators of all sizes, and whether you represent a large system or a small independent practice, it starts with a plan—one that’s well-defined, actionable, and ultimately, contributes to a successful and impactful vaccination program. 

Continue reading for our practical strategies to craft (or revise!) a plan that aligns with the evolving needs of your practice. Unlock your program’s full potential as a force for positive change in your community.

A Robust Vaccine Management Plan
Begins with Goals

Establishing a Foundation for Success

Your vaccine management plan will eventually define and reflect the guiding principles of your immunization program, but crafting an effective plan doesn’t begin with actions, procedures, or software solutions. It starts by defining what success looks like for your practice, which requires clarity and intention. Clearly outlining your program’s goals will shape not only your plan but also all subsequent implementation and evaluation, greatly streamlining your overall efforts.

In our experience, there are three key areas where setting clear goals has the greatest impact.

Patient Experience
Considering the patient experience should be a key component of your vaccine management plan. Because patient satisfaction and loyalty are integral to a thriving primary care practice, it’s important to ensure that healthcare providers are taking all necessary steps to establish and maintain strong relationships with patients.

Satisfied patients are more likely to remain loyal to the same healthcare provider, contributing to the establishment of long-term relationships and enhancing the practice’s overall standing in the community. 

• Same-visit access to all CDC scheduled and recommended products
• Ready for all payment types (Medicaid, Medicare, self-pay) product product-specific eligibility at the point of care
• Flexible appointment scheduling: Accommodate patient schedules ^[1], including evenings and weekends when offering appointment times.

When patients feel like valued participants in their health, it is strongly correlated with a higher standard of care. By taking these steps, healthcare providers can ensure that patients are receiving the best possible care and are less likely to seek out vaccinations from pharmacies or other sources.

Patient Outcomes & Safety
Improving the outcomes and safety of your patients is where the standard of care starts, and your vaccine management plan plays a crucial role in both. A well-defined plan will assist your practice in streamlining processes and optimizing inventory management, ensuring timely access to recommended vaccines, leading to higher vaccination rates and improved individual and community immunity.

• Advocacy & Adherence Programs: Patient outreach programs for seasonal vaccines and series completion.
• Address vaccine hesitancy: Evidence-based information and resources to address vaccine hesitancy and patient concerns.
• Verification procedures: Implement systems for double-checking vaccine orders, dosage calculations, and patient information before administration to reduce the risk of errors.
• Point of Care Safety Checks: Expired dose, age indication, and right patient/right dose, safety checks on all dispensed products at the point of care.

A well-executed plan ensures that patients receive the right vaccines at the right time, promoting individual health and setting your staff up for success in managing potential vaccine hesitancy, an essential task as highlighted by SHRM research. ^[2]

Clinical & Non-Clinical Workflows
All vaccine-related work should be included in your vaccine management plan. This will allow staff to focus on patient interaction and deliver better care while managing larger workloads efficiently.

• Non-Clinical Task Automation: Automated vaccine ordering, auditing, flu baselines, returns notifications, recall notifications, patient collections, and more.
• Dedicated Point-of-Care Platform: Standardization tool(s) for all tasks from vaccine ordering to administration and reimbursement across locations.
• ​​A Single Consistent Process: One process, regardless of specialty, location, or management.

Streamlined workflows and standardized processes—with clear guidelines for both clinical and non-clinical aspects—minimize the risk of errors, and ensure timely vaccine availability, accurate administration, and efficient data collection and reporting.

Your Vaccine Management Plan
Needs a Champion

The Conductor of Your Immunization Symphony

Critical to the success of any vaccine management plan is a vaccine manager. This position requires someone who will dedicate their expertise, organizational ability, and communication skills to serve as the central point of contact and coordination for all aspects of your vaccination program.

Whether you represent a large system handling a significant volume of vaccines or a smaller independent practice looking to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your vaccination program, a dedicated vaccine manager represents an invaluable investment for your practice, patients, and community.

The Roles and Responsibilities of a Vaccine Manager
Understanding the best practices associated with this position is essential. From managing vaccine distribution to coordinating with healthcare providers, the vaccine manager plays a pivotal role in the success of your vaccine management plan.

Responsible for safeguarding healthcare providers as well as the overall health and functioning of immunizations across the practice, successful vaccine managers should expect to be fluent in:

• Vaccine Management Systems
  Vaccine managers oversee your location’s entire vaccine management system, ensuring accurate data entry, reporting, and inventory management. This includes utilizing technology to maintain vaccine stock levels, track expiration dates, and optimize order fulfillment.
• Vaccine Storage and Handling
  They ensure temperature control protocols and cold chain management regulations are followed—including collaborating with logistics providers and ensuring adherence to Vaccine Storage and Handling guidelines ^[3] established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• Immunization Program Development and Implementation
  Working with public health officials and healthcare providers to develop and implement immunization programs tailored to specific community needs. This involves collaborating on outreach strategies, ensuring equitable access to vaccines, and assessment of program effectiveness.
• Emergency Preparedness and Response
  Developing and implementing emergency preparedness plans to address potential vaccine supply disruptions or unforeseen program implementation challenges. 

Depending on the location, vaccine managers may also be responsible for:

Assessing program effectiveness to identify potential areas of improvement, managing the program’s financial resources to ensure efficient resource allocation, and maintaining adherence to healthcare compliance standards through ongoing education and training.

Vaccine managers play an indispensable role in safeguarding not only public health but the health of your practice as well, ensuring every aspect of your practice’s vaccine management plan is executed to the highest standards. 

Qualifications and Skills Required of a Vaccine Manager
A proficient vaccine manager must possess extensive knowledge of immunization programs and understand the nuances of vaccination rates to better steer the administration of vaccines within healthcare settings efficiently. 

Prior exposure to Healthcare Management, Public Health Administration, or a related field brings a valuable perspective to the role. Familiarity with project management as well as vaccine distribution, storage, and digital solutions, like VaxCare, represent a significant advantage for your vaccine management plan in streamlining processes and enabling an improved overall reporting efficiency.

Additionally, knowledge of pediatric and adult vaccines and a proactive approach to utilizing resources, like the AIM Leadership in Action Conference ^[4], is indispensable in keeping children and adults vaccinated and protected against disease.

The Right Tools for Your
Vaccine Management Plan

The Must-Have Features for Program Success

Efficient and accurate inventory management is an important aspect of patient safety and is foundational to the efficacy of your vaccine management plan. This makes vaccine management software and other tools essential for enhancing the immunization process in every primary care practice. It enables healthcare professionals to increase vaccination rates and better protect their patients and communities. 

Vaccine management software can contribute significantly toward improving these rates, but selecting the best options for your practice requires careful consideration of various factors, including your specific needs, the range of features offered by different software solutions, and the seamless integration with your existing practice management systems. 

Utilizing the goals outlined in your vaccine management plan to choose the right software and implement it effectively will ensure quality care for your patients and operational efficiency in your medical practice.

Key Features of Vaccine Management Software
Vaccine management software is an indispensable tool for primary care, streamlining the entire immunization process by addressing the most important aspects of vaccine administration and inventory control.

The ideal vaccine management software to incorporate into your vaccine management plan should include a range of features tailored to facilitate the vaccination process effectively.

These core features improve the process of ordering vaccines, streamline administrative duties, enhance patient safety, and elevate the standard of care for medical practices of all sizes.

Benefits of Vaccine Management Software
Vaccine management software offers a suite of benefits that streamline the vaccination process and secure better healthcare outcomes. These specialized systems automate and optimize the tasks you’ve targeted in your vaccine management plan (e.g. inventory tracking, patient outreach, secure, efficient, and equitable vaccine administration, etc.)

• Greater Inventory Accuracy
  Vaccine management software simplifies and optimizes the vaccine ordering process and helps healthcare facilities minimize financial losses due to expired or unused vaccines, leading to precise inventory control with fewer financial losses due to expired or unused vaccines.
• Streamlined Workflows
  In an environment where healthcare burnout is a crisis, as noted by the U.S. Surgeon General ^[5], solutions like VaxCare are invaluable, automating back-end clinical processes and supply-chain management, liberating healthcare workers from time-consuming administrative tasks, allowing them to dedicate more effort to patient care.
• Enhanced Patient Safety
  Ensuring patient well-being is vital during vaccine administration. Management software prevents errors, wastage, and improves safety while avoiding billing mistakes.
• Improved Vaccination Rates
  Effective vaccine management software streamlines secure storage, distribution, and tracking of doses to ensure safety and efficacy. Integrated with EHRs, it facilitates accurate documentation to identify coverage gaps and address vaccine hesitancy.

By enhancing data accuracy, simplifying administrative workflows, and providing comprehensive analytics, vaccine management software is instrumental in helping healthcare providers and public health administrators increase vaccination rates and achieve healthier communities.

Understanding the Cold Chain and Its Role in Your Vaccine Management Plan
The cold chain refers to a system designed to maintain vaccines at recommended temperatures throughout the transportation, storage, and handling process. Exposure to temperatures outside the recommended range can lead to reduced vaccine efficacy or spoilage.

Best practices for maintaining the cold chain in healthcare settings, as outlined in the WHO Vaccine Management Handbook ^[6], include:

1. Implementing Efficient Inventory Management
   Utilizing advanced vaccine management systems that track vaccine inventories with precision and provide dose-level access, thus minimizing waste and optimizing stock levels.
2. Maintaining Compliance
   Implementing automated systems that simplify reporting and compliance with CDC and VFC guidelines ^[7] for temperature logs and inventory reports.

This is where vaccine management systems can provide the greatest assistance to cold chain adherence—with offerings like VaxCare enabling practices to track doses from the initial order through billing and claim adjudication, healthcare providers can ensure the administration of potent vaccines to patients.

Other Considerations for Your Vaccine Management Plan

• Ordering & Managing Inventory
  From the moment you place your first order, a vaccine program can be a source of lost revenue. Those losses can then continue silently, hidden in continually occurring processes. This is why you need vaccine management software that can correctly predict your inventory needs and provide end-to-end inventory tracking.
• ‘Lost’ Doses
  Vaccine loss is a major concern for medical practices. Low profit margin vaccines can require four or more additional shots to compensate for the loss of a single dose. Efficient vaccine management software can help absorb any losses that are simply unavoidable.
• Rates & Admin
  Because insurance providers reimburse at different rates, your vaccine management software should make it easy to calculate an appropriate billing rate to cover not just your purchase price but the administration and supply costs as well.
• Coding & Auditing
  Vaccine management software that can identify when to bill a patient directly and then assist in following up on the auditing process is invaluable when it comes to avoiding revenue “leakage.” Without automation, even the most organized and efficient offices will still spend excess time following up on denials due to coding errors.

VaxCare’s Dedicated Vaccine Management Solution

Your vaccine program, simplified.

You give the shot—we handle the rest.

• We take over your vaccine purchasing, providing unlimited inventory at no cost and automatically replenishing your stock when the supply gets low. Lost or expired doses? We’ll replace those for free.
• We automate your workflow and coding, eliminating manual tasks and reducing costly errors.
• Our platform ensures you’re paid for every qualifying dose while offering you the complete visibility you need to keep your vaccine program profitable.

VaxCare’s end-to-end solution removes the financial and operational burdens of the typical ‘buy and bill’ model. Providing practices with vaccines at no upfront cost, our automated platform reduces coding and billing errors, drastically altering the calculus for your vaccine management plan. The result is an immunization program with greater profitability, visibility, and better patient outcomes.

Automatic Ordering	No-Cost Inventory	Patient Scheduling	Point of Care Patient Safety	Billing Management	Clinical Workflow
Insurance & Claims	End-to-End Dose Tracking	IIS	ICD-10	CPT	HL7

Many EHRs Offer Some Support for Vaccines
While not purpose-built for vaccines, EHRs still offer incredible value for primary care practices. They provide efficient patient data management, and quick access to comprehensive medical histories, diagnoses, and treatment plans. This accessibility improves diagnostic accuracy and treatment decisions, ultimately enhancing patient care.

The ideal option for many practices lies in integrating dedicated vaccine management software with their existing EHR—with the vaccine platform focusing on efficient vaccine inventory control, ordering, and administration, and the EHR enhancing overall patient care and promoting greater practice efficiency.

Finding the Right Match
Practices should check that both the vaccine management system and EHR use standardized interfaces such as HL7 or FHIR ^[8], as this increases the likelihood of a smooth integration.

If you still have questions after reviewing vendor documentation for compatibility details and specific requirements, requesting a demo from the vendor may be in order. The firsthand experience will allow you to assess integration quality and ensure the workflow aligns with your practice’s needs.

Healthcare providers may also face difficulties in staff training and the adoption of integrated systems. To remedy this, ensure that your vaccine management plan includes training and ongoing support to facilitate ease of use and encourage acceptance among staff.

The right choice can help your practice gain back the precious time and energy spent simply managing your program.

Vaccine Management Plan
Training and Support

A Short Learning Curve With Long-Term Benefits

Efficient Onboarding Focused on the User
When addressing training and support for your vaccine management plan, it is crucial to prioritize systems that are designed to integrate seamlessly with your existing workflows. This approach will minimize the learning curve and reduce the need for extensive training, ensuring a smooth transition for healthcare staff.

Look for a comprehensive onboarding process that includes detailed documentation—preferably including video tutorials that can provide a visual representation of the system’s capabilities, making it easier for your staff to grasp complex concepts. 

Responsive customer support is also an essential aspect of a successful onboarding process. A support team that is readily available to answer any questions or troubleshoot issues can make a significant difference in how quickly your staff members can adapt. 

Time Savings, Error Reduction, and Enhanced Patient Care
Investing in a vaccine management system can offer numerous benefits to healthcare facilities. One of the most significant advantages is the long-term time savings it provides. By automating manual processes and streamlining workflows, staff can focus on delivering excellent patient care instead of spending countless hours on administrative tasks. Additionally, real-time monitoring allows for quick identification and resolution of any issues, further enhancing efficiency.

A well-implemented system should tick all the boxes from your vaccine management plan, while minimizing the risk of errors, fostering patient safety, and reducing administrative burdens.

Data-Driven Decision-Making
When it comes to managing vaccines, starting with a vaccine management plan may seem obvious, but it can make all the difference. It’s not just about storing vaccines and tracking their usage—it’s also about leveraging data to make informed decisions that can improve patient care and drive efficiency.

One of the key benefits of a vaccine management system is its ability to provide valuable insights through data analytics. By collecting and analyzing data on vaccine usage, inventory levels, and patient demographics, clinics can gain a deeper understanding of their operations and identify areas for improvement. For example, they may discover that certain vaccines are underutilized or that there are patterns in patient behavior that could be addressed through targeted outreach or education.

In addition to these immediate benefits, having a vaccine management system in place can also position clinics for future changes in regulations, reporting requirements, and healthcare technologies. By investing in a system that is adaptable and flexible, clinics can ensure that they are prepared to respond to new challenges or opportunities without significant disruptions.

It may seem like a lot to consider, but because each plan is tailored to the needs of your practice, taking the time now to develop a vaccine management plan will ultimately simplify your vaccine supply chain and provide you with an organized, easily maintained blueprint that is central to your program.

Because a vaccine program offers tremendous value for your patients—but it shouldn’t come at the expense of your practice or staff.

References
[1] (2024, March 4). Growing and sustaining high-performing primary care practices (MGMA). https://www.mgma.com/articles/growing-and-sustaining-high-performing-primary-care-practices
[2] (2024, March 4). Confronting Vaccine Misinformation in the Workplace (SHRM). https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/managing-smart/confronting-vaccine-misinformation-workplace
[3] (2024, March 4). Vaccine Storage and Handling Resources (CDC). https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/admin/storage/index.html
[4] (2024, March 4). AIM Leadership in Action Conference (AIM). https://www.immunizationmanagers.org/news-events/
[5] (2024, March 4). Health Worker Burnout (HHS). https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/health-worker-burnout/index.html
[6] (2024, March 4). Vaccine Management Handbook (WHO). https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-IVB-15.04
[7] (2024, March 4). Vaccine Storage and Handling Resources (CDC). https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/admin/storage/index.html
[8] (2024, March 4). FHIR Fact Sheets (HealthIT.gov). https://www.healthit.gov/topic/standards-technology/standards/fhir-fact-sheets

Additional Resources
For more information on vaccine management and healthcare compliance, including best practices, training opportunities, and relevant updates on immunization programs, we recommend:

World Health Organization (WHO): https://www.who.int/immunization/diseases/en/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/
Immunize.org: https://www.immunize.org/

The post The Ultimate Vaccine Management Plan Blueprint appeared first on VaxCare.

Accurate Vaccine Ordering & Management…

• Ensures your practice has an adequate supply on hand.
  Running out of vaccines can disrupt patient care and may result in missed vaccination opportunities, compromising public health efforts and eroding patient trust.

• Helps prevent vaccine wastage.
  Vaccines have specific storage and handling requirements, and ordering excessive amounts can lead to vaccines expiring before they can be used—a financial loss for your practice and a potential contributor to vaccine shortages on a larger scale.
• Allows you to better anticipate and react to fluctuations in demand.
  By forecasting demand (including the new respiratory season realities) and adjusting orders accordingly, practices can ensure they’re always prepared to serve their community.

Introducing a vaccine manager to your team can also greatly enhance the effectiveness of managing vaccine orders and returns in your primary care practice. While the greater focus of this guide is focused on the benefits of VaxCare’s automated suite of tools having a vaccine manager in place can provide additional support, expertise, and peace of mind for your practice. They can help ensure that your vaccine program runs smoothly and efficiently, ultimately benefiting both your staff and your patients.

Benefits of Automatic Vaccine Ordering & Management

Automatic vaccine ordering and management tools streamline the vaccination process and enable better healthcare outcomes. These specialized systems automate and optimize the tasks in your practice’s vaccine management plan (e.g. inventory tracking, patient outreach, secure, efficient, and equitable vaccine administration, etc.)

• Greater Inventory Accuracy
  Automatic vaccine management simplifies and optimizes the vaccine ordering process and helps healthcare facilities minimize financial losses due to expired or unused vaccines, leading to precise inventory control with fewer financial losses due to expired or unused vaccines.
• Streamlined Workflows
  Automating back-end clinical processes and supply-chain management, liberating healthcare workers from time-consuming administrative tasks, allowing them to dedicate more effort to patient care—important for combating burnout as noted by the U.S. Surgeon General ^[1].
• Enhanced Patient Safety
  Ensuring patient well-being is vital during vaccine administration. Automatic vaccine management helps to prevent errors and improve safety.
• Improved Vaccination Rates
  Automatic vaccine management streamlines the secure storage, distribution, and tracking of doses to ensure their safety and efficacy.
• Minimize Waste
  Utilizing a system like VaxCare means your practice’s projected needs and historical usage patterns are analyzed to find your inventory sweet spot—typically 3-4 weeks by vaccine.

By enhancing data accuracy, simplifying administrative workflows, and providing comprehensive analytics, automatic vaccine ordering and management helps healthcare providers and public health administrators increase vaccination rates and create healthier communities.

Simplify Workflows with Automated Vaccine Ordering & Management

With automated systems constantly monitoring vaccine stock levels and providing real-time visibility, staff members will spend dramatically less time manually counting and tracking inventory. Suggested order quantities can also be generated based on historical usage and current demand, further reducing the time spent on decision-making for reorders.

For example, having the tools available to easily separate Vaccines for Children ^[2] (VFC) doses from private inventory can significantly improve efficiency. Automation can help in tracking and maintaining separate inventories—ensuring that VFC vaccines are accurately accounted for and utilized for eligible patients, eliminating confusion helping to maintain compliance.

By automating tedious manual processes—which can come to dominate the traditional vaccination workflow—staff members can focus more on what’s most important… providing excellent patient care.

Automatic Vaccine Ordering with Real-Time Inventory

We take care of your vaccine supply automatically for seamless continuity of care.

• VaxCare replenishes your vaccine stock automatically.
  With VaxCare, you never have to worry about what’s in your fridge—or, just as importantly, what’s not. Our smart data tools help your vaccine manager keep track of everything that goes in and out, and automatically replenishes your vaccine supplies, ensuring a continuous 3-4 week supply, at no cost to you.
• How does automatic vaccine ordering work?
  It starts with VaxCare purchasing all of your vaccines. When we say you’ll never pay another vaccine manufacturer’s invoice again, we mean it. We buy up your existing inventory and do all of your vaccine purchasing going forward, providing you with unlimited inventory, without costing you a dime.Our platform returns tens of thousands of dollars in capital to the average practice (not to mention peace of mind), which means never again having to pull out your own credit card to pay a vaccine invoice.

• Automatic Vaccine Ordering, But Still The Provider’s Choice
  Have a preference for a particular manufacturer, or just looking for a one-off vaccine?  Not a problem. We maintain relationships with all of the major vaccine manufacturers, ensuring that our partners have the best supply available. VaxCare is one of the top 10 buyers of vaccines nationally, alongside CVS, Walgreens, and the U.S. government.VaxCare partners wishing to make a new or revised vaccine selection after enrollment can simply reach out to our customer care team at any time.
• Automatic Replenishment Thresholds
  Our platform makes sure that vaccines are replenished automatically when inventory gets low, keeping your vaccine fridge stocked with a 3–4 week supply at all times.
• Placing and Reviewing Special Orders
  Need even more control? Placing a special order is a cinch for partners looking to set up a vaccination event through the VaxCare Portal—the web-based companion to the VaxCare Hub that captures patient scheduling, insurance information, and eligibility.
• Real-time Vaccine Inventory Monitoring
  Even for a single clinic location, real-time monitoring of inventory through a vaccine management system offers substantial benefits; offering optimized suggestions and enabling practices to make informed decisions with minimal intervention.Real-time monitoring contributes to a streamlined workflow, making the clinic more responsive, efficient, and adaptable, while preventing runouts, optimizing vaccine distribution, minimizing expiration risks, and ultimately enhancing the patient experience

Effortless Vaccine Returns

Expired or unused doses? No problem. We handle the return process, saving you time and money.

With VaxCare, expired doses are returned at no cost and lost doses are easy to reconcile. Using a single barcode scan, our technology balances your inventory, updates the patient’s record in your EHR, and handles the claims process from start to finish. 

That said, despite the ease of returning doses, it should go without saying that we do everything in our power to make sure our partnered practices don’t waste time dealing with returns. But sometimes the unexpected or unavoidable happens, like with the ice storm that slammed into Texas a few years back, disrupting regular life for millions, and plunging much of the state into darkness for days.

And for physicians, the problem wasn’t just an average power outage; entire inventories of vaccines were on the line, underscoring the importance of reliable cold chain management.

As others grappled with insurance claims, paperwork, and prolonged delays, those partnered with VaxCare experienced a hassle-free resolution, receiving replacement vaccines in as little as 48 hours, and at no additional cost.

Cold Chain Management

Vaccines have specific storage temperature requirements. Doses that have been outside the recommended range for too long must be discarded. Document the incident for your records.

Best practices for maintaining the cold chain in healthcare settings, as outlined in the WHO Vaccine Management Handbook ^[3], include:

1. Implementing Efficient Inventory Management
   Utilizing advanced vaccine management systems that track vaccine inventories with precision and provide dose-level access, thus minimizing waste and optimizing stock levels.
2. Maintaining Compliance
   Implementing automated systems that simplify reporting and compliance with CDC and VFC guidelines ^[4] for temperature logs and inventory reports.

Automate Your Vaccine Ordering with VaxCare

The Vaccine Program for Modern Practices

Ordering vaccines is a straightforward task. And counting your inventory is easy. However, the complexities of vaccine management aren’t found in isolated tasks, but in performing all of them quickly enough to avoid wasting time, and accurately enough to avoid coming up short (or finding your fridge full at the end of the season).

That’s why we created this guide. To cover all the details of our comprehensive vaccine management solution, designed to address and simplify every aspect of your vaccine program. Because you didn’t get into this business to manage inventory, you did it to provide care.

Vaccine Management Made Easy

• Automatic Shipments: Never run low again. We take care of reorder thresholds for seamless continuity of care.
• Real-time Inventory: A clear, up-to-date picture of your vaccine stock, minimizes time spent on physical checks.
• Effortless Returns: Expired or unused doses? No problem. We handle the return process, saving you time and money.

Our integrated platform is designed to simplify the process for you. By streamlining vaccine management, we can help you save time and money, while still allowing you to provide the best care possible to your patients. When you’re ready to take your vaccine management to the next level, our platform is here to help.

References
[1] (2024, April 16). Vaccines for Children (CDC). https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/vfc/index.html
[2] (2024, April 16). Health Worker Burnout (HHS). https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/health-worker-burnout/index.html
[3] (2024, April 16). Vaccine Management Handbook (WHO). https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-IVB-15.04
[4] (2024, April 16). Vaccine Storage and Handling Resources (CDC). https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/admin/storage/index.html

Additional Resources
For more information on vaccine management and healthcare compliance, including best practices, training opportunities, and relevant updates on immunization programs, we recommend:

World Health Organization (WHO): https://www.who.int/immunization/diseases/en/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/
Immunize.org: https://www.immunize.org/

The post The Ultimate Guide to Automatic Vaccine Inventory Management appeared first on VaxCare.

Automating vaccine business operations while successfully administering vaccines can transform your practice’s role in maintaining public health and safeguarding individual well-being. However, behind the scenes of every effective vaccination program lies a multitude of non-clinical tasks that are equally crucial yet often labor-intensive and time-consuming. From managing inventory and ordering vaccines to verifying patient eligibility and handling billing processes, these administrative responsibilities can significantly impact the efficiency and effectiveness of vaccine programs.

VaxCare’s ability to automate these non-clinical tasks represents a transformative solution for primary care practices seeking to streamline their vaccine programs and enhance overall operational efficiency. Through technological innovation as well as specialized hardware and software solutions, VaxCare alleviates the administrative burdens commonly associated with operating a successful vaccine program.  This enables practices of all sizes to invest more of their time and attention on patient care and less on manual responsibilities.

This article explores the importance and benefits of automating the business operations required to run a successful primary care vaccine program. From improving workflow efficiency and reducing errors to optimizing resource allocation and enhancing patient satisfaction, automation offers a myriad of benefits for healthcare providers and patients alike. Join us as we delve into the transformative power of automation and discover how primary care practices can leverage VaxCare’s vaccine management solution to achieve better outcomes for their patients and their practice.

Automating Non-Clinical Vaccination Tasks

VaxCare’s vaccine management solution removes the financial and operational burdens found in most primary care vaccine programs. By providing vaccines at no upfront cost, purpose-built hardware to make management simple and effective, and taking care of claims reimbursement, VaxCare has a bird’s-eye view of every dose ordered, through administration and compensation.

That end-to-end visibility enables VaxCare to focus completely on creating a streamlined and fully automated platform—drastically reducing the need for manual intervention and enabling vaccine programs with greater profitability, simplified workflows, and better patient outcomes.

You give the shot—we handle the rest:

• Automatic Vaccine Ordering & Inventory Management
  VaxCare handles all of your vaccine purchasing, providing unlimited inventory at no cost and automatically replenishing your stock when the supply gets low. Lost or expired doses? We replace those for free.
• Automatic Vaccine Eligibility & Charting
  We automate your workflow and coding, eliminating manual tasks and reducing the chance for costly errors to occur.
• Automatic Vaccine Billing & Denial Management
  Our platform ensures you’re paid for every qualifying dose, as well as the time, space, and information you need to keep your vaccine program profitable.

By automating these non-clinical tasks and providing practices with hardware, software, and a dedicated customer care team, VaxCare lowers the administrative investment necessary to run a successful vaccine program. This enables all types of practices, from the privately owned to the largest systems, to invest more of their time and attention on what matters most, patient care.

Automatic Vaccine Ordering

The complexities of vaccine management aren’t found in isolated tasks such as ordering vaccines or counting your inventory.  Those are straightforward, often simple tasks. The real trick is in performing those tasks quickly enough to avoid wasting time, and accurately enough to avoid coming up short (or finding your fridge full at the end of the season).

Accurate vaccine ordering is essential for maintaining the efficiency and effectiveness of vaccination programs. It ensures your practice has an adequate supply on hand, helps prevent vaccine wastage, and allows you to better anticipate and react to fluctuations in demand. And with VaxCare, you never have to worry about what’s in your fridge. Our comprehensive vaccine management solution is designed to address and simplify every aspect of your vaccine program, helping your vaccine manager keep track of every dose that goes in or out, while automatically replenishing your vaccines to ensure a reliable on-hand supply.

Automatic vaccine ordering begins with VaxCare purchasing your vaccines, returning tens of thousands of dollars in capital to the average practice. We buy up your existing inventory and handle all your vaccine purchasing going forward, providing you with the inventory you need without costing you a dime. And when your inventory gets low, our platform ensures that your vaccines are replenished automatically, keeping your vaccine fridge stocked with a 3–4 week supply at all times. Additionally, suggested order quantities can also be generated for flu pre-book orders, based on historical usage and current demand, further reducing the time spent on seasonal decision-making.

Need even more control? Placing a special order for a vaccination event is easy with VaxCare’s Portal—the web-based companion to the VaxCare Hub.

Automatic Vaccine Inventory Management

Even for a single clinic location, the real-time monitoring of inventory built into VaxCare’s vaccine management solution offers substantial benefits. Real-time monitoring contributes to the overall streamlined workflow VaxCare enables, making each clinic more responsive, efficient, and adaptable while preventing runouts, and minimizing expiration risks.

VaxCare’s automated systems constantly monitor vaccine stock levels, providing real-time visibility into the status of your inventory and enabling your staff members to spend dramatically less time manually counting and tracking inventory.

Vaccine Management Made Easy

• Automatic Shipments: Never run low again. We take care of reorder thresholds for seamless continuity of care.
• Real-time Inventory: A clear, up-to-date picture of your vaccine stock, minimizes time spent on physical checks.
• Effortless Returns: Expired or unused doses? No problem. We handle the return process, saving you time and money.

Our integrated platform is designed to simplify the process for you. By streamlining vaccine management, we can help you save time and money, while still allowing you to provide the best care possible to your patients. 

Automatic Vaccine Insurance Eligibility

When manual data entry is involved, there is always a possibility of mistyping or misplacing important information. Even a small error can result in delays or denials of insurance coverage, which can disrupt healthcare services and negatively impact patient care. Automated insurance verification not only streamlines the vaccine eligibility process but also frees up valuable staff time, allowing them to manage other essential tasks and focus on providing the best care possible. 

VaxCare’s technology quickly and accurately verifies insurance coverage—accessing and analyzing data from multiple sources, ensuring up-to-date and accurate information. By automating insurance verification with VaxCare, the risk of human error is greatly reduced. This helps prevent unnecessary delays in care and creates a smoother and more efficient experience for staff and patients.

Automatic Vaccine Eligibility
VaxCare handles the tedious and repetitive work of verifying insurance information, and because these checks happen in real-time, staff always have the most up-to-date information. This eliminates the risk of relying on outdated coverage, creating another opportunity to save time and practice confidently.

Because eligibility is run for each appointment and appears alongside the information about that patient and appointment, you’ll always have clear confirmation of your patient’s vaccine coverage at the point of care, so you can consult your patients with confidence. Any vaccines not covered will be indicated so a consultation may happen prior to administration.

Real-Time Coverage
Ensuring that coverage is being automatically run at the time of care enables healthcare professionals to make informed decisions about vaccine administration without manually verifying coverage or simply hoping that the information on file is up-to-date and accurate.

This also provides staff with the opportunity to identify any limitations or restrictions on vaccine coverage as any vaccines which are not covered will be clearly indicated. This ensures that a proper consultation can happen prior to administration, minimizing billing complications and the potential for denied claims.

Automatic Vaccine Charting

EHRs enable efficient patient data management, and quick access to comprehensive medical histories, diagnoses, and treatment plans. This accessibility improves diagnostic accuracy and treatment decisions.

Integrating VaxCare’s dedicated vaccine management solution with your existing EHR, relevant information from vaccine administrations can be recorded with a single scan, enhancing overall patient care, promoting greater practice efficiency, and transforming the way patient information is documented.

Adding automatic vaccine charting into your practice not only enhances accuracy but also increases efficiency. By leveraging technology to streamline the process of tracking vaccinations, you can provide better outcomes for both staff and patients while delivering exceptional care.

Saving Time with Automatic Charting

Eliminating the need for manual data entry represents a huge time savings for vaccinating practices. Automatic charting takes care of populating the records with accurate data, eliminating the need for healthcare professionals to spend time on non-clinical tasks such as capturing vaccination details for patient records. 

The time saved by automating the charting process is especially significant in settings where there’s a high volume of vaccination records—such as in pediatric practices. This allows staff to manage their time more effectively and pay more attention to patient care. 

Improved Accuracy with Automatic Charting

For vaccine documentation, the automatic charting enabled by VaxCare also plays a crucial role in minimizing the risk of transcription errors and ensuring consistency in data entry, ensuring the correct vaccination details are recorded with a single scan. 

Automatic Vaccine Billing

From the moment an order is placed to the completion of the billing process, VaxCare ensures that every step of the vaccine administration journey is carefully tracked and easy to reference. Because the entire claims process is automated, providers can depend on quick reimbursement for their vaccine services. This eliminates the frustration and delays often associated with traditional billing processes and removes the need to chase down payments or write off losses.

VaxCare’s automatic vaccine billing ensures that every administered dose is accurately billed, maximizing the practice’s revenue potential. Having complete confidence in the billing process and knowing that no doses are slipping through the cracks empowers providers to optimize their financial performance without losing focus on patient care.

• Guaranteed Payment
  With VaxCare’s guaranteed payment system, you’ll receive compensation for each qualifying dose that you administer—even if we don’t get paid. Whether it’s billing and collections or processing and adjudicating claims, we have streamlined the payment process to provide you with peace of mind and financial security.
• Streamlined Billing Process
  VaxCare’s automated billing ensures all the necessary information regarding shot administration is collected with a single scan of the vaccine, eliminating the risk of errors that can lead to claim denials or delays in reimbursement. Additionally, real-time validation of insurance coverage and eligibility allows staff to immediately determine the coverage and any financial responsibilities the patient may have.

By signing up and allowing VaxCare to handle the financial aspects of the vaccination process, claims submission and reimbursements are greatly accelerated, ensuring faster payment turnaround times. The accelerated revenue cycle directly impacts the practice’s cash flow, making it financially stable by ensuring a consistent and reliable revenue stream. 

Automatic Vaccine Denial Management

Regardless of the technology at your disposal or your staff’s attentiveness—denial management is an unavoidable part of the billing process. From the moment an order is placed to the completion of the billing process, VaxCare ensures that every step of the vaccine administration journey is carefully tracked. 

With our denial management expertise, you can trust VaxCare to ensure that your vaccination reimbursements continue to be timely, with your payment guaranteed for qualifying doses, regardless of the outcome of the claim. Our advanced algorithms can identify common denial patterns and uncover key issues that may be causing denials, allowing our staff to take proactive measures to prevent future claim rejections.

Partnering with VaxCare to automate your practice’s denial management enables our staff to efficiently monitor the status of your vaccine claims and seamlessly coordinate with insurance companies. This will save valuable time for your staff and ensure timely resolution of claim disputes. With VaxCare’s help, healthcare providers can be sure that every single dose is accounted for from start to finish. 

Automating the non-clinical tasks of a successful vaccine program is not just a matter of convenience; it’s strategically important for primary care practices looking to survive the increasing demands placed on the time of their employees. By embracing automation, practices can improve workflow efficiency, enhance patient safety, reduce administrative burdens, and fosters a positive vaccination environment amongst staff.

Automation isn’t about replacing human involvement in vaccine administration; it’s about empowering practitioners and encouraging them to focus their time and energy where it matters most: delivering high-quality care to their patients. By harnessing the power of VaxCare’s technology to streamline non-clinical tasks, primary care practices can elevate their vaccine programs and eliminate the financial and operational burdens facing their practices.

Additional Resources

For more information on vaccine management and healthcare compliance, including best practices, training opportunities, and relevant updates on immunization programs, we recommend:

World Health Organization (WHO): https://www.who.int/immunization/diseases/en/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/
Immunize.org: https://www.immunize.org/

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Even if you’ve been in practice for years, accurately predicting how much of each vaccine you need can be tricky with so many variables to consider: historical data, current patient population, current health trends, and more. We’ve put together some tips for managing this complicated and potentially expensive process.

Tips to managing the ordering process:

• Most practices will want to order non-flu vaccines weekly or every two weeks. The more often you order, the lower the risk of running out in crunch times. The downside of more frequent ordering? You’ll have to spend more administrative dollars to keep track of what’s coming in and what’s going out.
• Make sure you’ve reviewed the most recent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP) schedule of recommendations so you’re aware of changes you need to make to your ordering plan. Visit the ACIP’s page on the CDC website here.
• Use an inventory spreadsheet to calculate orders based on your past history.
• Your vaccine manufacturer representatives can be good sources of information. It’s worth checking with them for your past ordering history and/or guidelines for what similar practices are ordering.

The post How to Calculate Your Vaccine Order appeared first on VaxCare.

RHCs were originally formed via the Rural Health Clinic Services Act, passed in 1977, which aimed to combat the physician shortage in rural areas and address reimbursement issues with Medicare and Medicaid. (My personal connection to RHCs is through the time I spent advocating for the Rural Health Clinic Modernization Act of 2019.)

Without Rural Health Clinics, thousands of people would lack proper access to timely care. The pandemic has triggered increased support and funding allocated through the HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration) to Rural Health Clinics, benefiting everything from COVID-19 testing and mitigation to education around vaccine hesitancy. I reached out to Nathan Baugh, Director of Government Relations for the National Association of Rural Health Clinics—whom I met in my previous work with RHCs—to ask him about the importance of RHCs during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

As he sees it, “5,000 Rural Health Clinics across the country are the backbone of rural health care. From primary care to COVID-19 testing, urgent care to specialty care, RHCs provide outpatient care to rural, underserved communities.”  

In my current role at VaxCare, I am thankful to have the opportunity to continue working with Rural Health Clinics and communities by providing an end-to-end vaccine solution to their offices, and by extension, their communities. As the pandemic has shown, immunizations are not just for children, but for all people, no matter their age or where they live—urban, rural, or anywhere between!

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