Technically Speaking: Protecting Your Investment in Vaccines So They Can Protect Your Patients
Published on in Vaccine Update for Healthcare Providers
Published on in Vaccine Update for Healthcare Providers
$8,079 — That’s the total private sector cost for 10 doses of each of the 13 vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for routine use in children from birth through 17 years of age.*
Since most vaccines are available in 10-dose packages, this means that even small medical practices are storing approximately $8,000 of vaccine at any one time. Of course, the total value of vaccines available in a practice is usually much greater than that, and very large practices may be storing more than 10 times that value in inventory. How can you ensure that your sizeable vaccine investment is appropriately protected from potential loss (and subsequent replacement costs) and that your patients receive viable vaccines?
To assist with your efforts to properly store and protect your vaccine supply, CDC recently released a wide range of new tools, including:
The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) also maintains a wide variety of helpful tools in its Clinic Resources: Storage & Handling Web section, such as temperature logs for refrigerators and freezers and the following two recently updated pieces:
All of these tools provide great information to assist your medical practice with appropriate vaccine storage and handling. Take a minute to have your staff review the tools, and institute recommended policies and systems in your healthcare setting. You will be rewarded with dollars saved from reduced vaccine wastage. But more importantly, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that your efforts have helped ensure that your patients receive effective protection against vaccine preventable diseases — and nothing is more valuable than that!
*Private sector cost1 (rounded to nearest dollar) for 10 doses each of DTaP ($235), influenza ($148), IPV ($274), Hepatitis A ($296), Hepatitis B ($223), Hib ($245), HPV ($1,351), meningococcal conjugate ($1,152), MMR ($561), pneumococcal conjugate ($1,351), rotavirus ($909), Tdap ($393), and varicella ($941) vaccines. (Note: When more than one brand of a vaccine type was available, the average cost was used. Due to the wide variety of formulations/costs, combination vaccines were not included in this assessment.)
1Cost per CDC Pediatric/VFC Vaccine Price List (accessed July 7, 2014)
Contributed by: Deborah Wexler, MD
Categories: Technically Speaking, Vaccine Update July 2014
Materials in this section are updated as new information and vaccines become available. The Vaccine Education Center staff regularly reviews materials for accuracy.
You should not consider the information in this site to be specific, professional medical advice for your personal health or for your family's personal health. You should not use it to replace any relationship with a physician or other qualified healthcare professional. For medical concerns, including decisions about vaccinations, medications and other treatments, you should always consult your physician or, in serious cases, seek immediate assistance from emergency personnel.