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What's
New
Upcoming
Immunization Initiative Advisory Committee Meetings
The
next meeting Date: Thursday December 18, 2008 at 6:30pm
All Immunization
Initiative meetings are held at the Massachusetts Medical Society:
Waltham Woods Corporate Center
860 Winter Street
Waltham, MA 02454
If you wish
to join the Advisory Committee contact Hadassa Kubat by phone: (781) 895-9850,
or e-mail: hkubat@mms.org
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The
2008 Annual Survey of Massachusetts Health Plans on their Immunization
Benefit Policies and Reimbursements for Vaccines
Each year
the Immunization Initiative conducts a survey of Massachusetts Health
Plans about their reimbursement policies for privately purchased vaccines
which are not provided by the MDPH. This year's survey included the following
questions:
1. Does your plan reimburse Providers for all the ACIP recommended vaccine
products when these are not supplied by MDPH? Please list all the sections
of your plan for which your response does not apply.
2. Does your plan reimburse providers for the actual acquisition cost
of vaccines?
3. Does your plan reimburse for more or less than the private sector published
vaccine products prices? (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/vfc/cdc-vac-price-list.htm)
4. What is the billing procedure for vaccine products?
5. Does your health plan pay for the administration of vaccines? (CPT
codes 90465-68 and 90471-73)
6. Are immunizations, vaccine products and/or administration included
in the deductibles? Please list the sections of your plan for which your
response applies.
7. Does the information provided in your responses apply to the subsidized
Commonwealth Care Connector plans?
The responses were tabulated in two files, which are available
by clicking on:
Massachusetts Health
Plans' Immunization Reimbursement Policies - Summary of Responses 2008
and on
Massachusetts
Health Plans' Reimbursement for Vaccines - Summary of Responses January
2008
Posted
on February 25 2008
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Tdap
and varicella vaccines
State-supplied
MCV4, Tdap and varicella vaccines are now available for the catch-up only
of VFC eligible children and adolescents. Due to these changes, providers
will need to privately purchase MCV4, Tdap and varicella vaccines to catch-up
their non-VFC eligible population. To see the updated list of all the
recommended vaccines that are provided by the MDPH, click on: Vaccine
Availability Table, Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) Immunization
Program.Vaccine
Availability Table, Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) Immunization
Program.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine remains available only for VFC-eligible
females
Posted
on December 17 2007
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Massachusetts
Department of Public Health (MDPH) will discontinue distribution of paper
copies of Vaccine Information Statements (VIS)
For additional
Information read the MDPH Memo: "Vaccine Information Statements (VISs)"
"Vaccine Information Statements (VISs)"
For more information on specific VIS requirements set forth in the NCVIA,
please see the document:"Vaccine Information Statements: An Important
Tool in Vaccine Risk Benefit Communication", on the MDPH web
page at http://www.mass.gov/dph/cdc/epii/imm/imm.htm.
Posted
on December 17, 2007
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 NEW
Multiple Vaccines VIS
A multi-vaccine
VIS has been added to the NCIRD website, and may be downloaded now at:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-multi.pdf
This
VIS may be used as an optional substitute for any or all of the routine
birth-6 month vaccine VISs. (DTaP, IPV, Hib, PCV, Hepatitis B, and Rotavirus)
See VIS News. It is an optional alternative to the individual VISs, which,
of course, may still be used.
Posted
on February 1, 2008
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Influenza
Vaccine
Links
to Influenza Vaccination Recommendations
Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, Flu Web Site
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/
Influenza
Web Site, MDPH
http://www.state.ma.us/dph/cdc/epii/flu/flu1.htm
Model
Standing Orders - Influenza Vaccine, MDPH
Inactivated: http://www.mass.gov/dph/cdc/mso/inactivated_flu.pdf
Live
Attenuated: http://www.mass.gov/dph/cdc/mso/laiv_flumist.pdf
Influenza
vaccine available for (private) purchase
A website
sponsored by the National Influenza Vaccine Summit and hosted by the American
Medical Association (AMA) lists vaccine distributors, their contact information
and the type of influenza vaccine they have available. http://www.preventinfluenza.org/ivats/ivats_07_08.xls
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Archived
Presentations from:
The Thirteenth Annual Massachusetts Immunization Action Partnership Skills
Building Conference, October 2, 2008
Slides
available as downloadable Adobe Acrobat (.PDF) files
To download click on the presentation's title
Immunizations
in Massachusetts
- Susan M. Lett, MD, MPH
Vaccine Safety
- Ronald Adler, MD
What's
New? National Immunization Update
- William L. Atkinson, MD, MPH
Vaccine
Preventable Disease Epidemiology
- Noelle Cocoros, MPH
Flu
Recommendations
- Mary Conant RN, BSN
How
to Vaccinate all These Kids (Flu Recommendations)
- Harriet Sanclamente, NP
Tips
for Immunizing Children: LOTS of Children (Flu Recommendations)
- Barbara Westley, RN
National
Vaccine Distribution: Lessons Learned and a Look towards Flu Season
- Robert W. Morrison
Vaccines
for International Travel
- Lawrence Madoff, MD
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MCAAP
Position Paper on Universal Vaccination for Children in Massachusetts
The
Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics wrote a policy
paper urging the Commonwealth legislature to support the funding of all
ACIP & AAP recommended vaccines, and to maintain universal immunization
for all children in our state. Please print this document and share it
widely with your colleagues, parents and all who care about health of
children. Click on the title: MCAAP
Position Paper on Universal Vaccination for Children in Massachusetts
and open a printer friendly PDF file.
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2007
Childhood & Adolescent Immunization Schedules in various formats including
downloadable immunization schedules into handhelds are posted on the NIP
Web site: http://www.cdc.gov/nip/recs/child-schedule.htm
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Pediatric
Immunization Administration CPT Codes
Link
to the list of: Commonly Administered Pediatric Vaccines/Toxoids and
Immune Globulins (2007)
on the AAP website
Effective
January 1, 2005 four new pediatric specific immunization administration
codes are reportable when the patient is under 8 years of age and the
physician performs the vaccine related consulting.
Implementing
the New Vaccine Administration Codes by Massachusetts’ Health Care
Organizations
Most but not all plans incorporated the new codes into their billing systems,
and are reimbursing on these codes.
Click here to
view detailed information and the responses of each of the surveyed plans.
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