Successful vaccine management will include: “vaccine cold chain” procedures, adherence to the CDC Advisory Committee’s Immunization Practices, continuous monitoring and recording of storage temperatures, properly calibrated temperature controls and a certificate of calibration testing, and emergency or loss of power protocols. Vaccine cold chain” procedures are the procedures that ensure a vaccine is kept in a temperature-controlled environment so they are in optimal condition from the time they leave the manufacturing facility to the time that they arrive at a physician’s office for storage and use. Once the vaccines are stored on-site, ensuring your staff knows the emergency or loss of power protocols to ensure continued viability is essential.
Creating additional protocols to address vaccine ordering, vaccine inventory, vaccine handling and vaccine wastage may be necessary for your practice. Knowing what vaccinations are on hand and properly maintaining inventory will help reduce waste and will also help mitigate delays in care, both of which result in lost revenue.