Please feel free to use the information provided by each article's respective author at the links below; however, if you wish to reprint any of the content in these articles, either in whole or in part, please contact the LAFP.
Vaccine purchasing through Atlantic Health Partners
LAFP has formed a partnership with vaccine purchasing program Atlantic Health Partners to save family physicians money when purchasing vaccines and advocate on behalf of family medicine practices among manufacturers and payers. There is no cost for LAFP members to enroll in the program and enrollment is voluntary.
Benefits of joining Atlantic’s program include:
- Favorable pricing for Sanofi Pasteur and Merck vaccines;
- Improved purchasing terms for a wide assortment of pediatric, adolescent, adult and travel vaccines;
- No fee to participate and voluntary enrollment;
- Access to reimbursement support; and
- Access to resources on billing, coding, pricing and inventory management.
How much will you save?
If your practice already purchases vaccines directly from Sanofi Pasteur and Merck, you will save between 3 percent and 35 percent, based on the specific vaccine, with a typical overall savings of 5 percent to 15 percent by purchasing through Atlantic. You’ll generally save more on pediatric and adolescent vaccines and less on newer vaccines such as Gardasil. In addition, Atlantic members can make smaller orders to manage inventory and cash flow and still receive the same low program prices.
If your practice purchases vaccines from a medical supply distributor, the savings are often as much as 50 percent, with an overall average of 25 percent to 35 percent.
Atlantic will support LAFP continuing medical education by donating 10 percent of the revenue from all LAFP member sales to LAFP.Contact Jeff Winokur at Atlantic Health Partners at (800) 741-2044 or jwinokur@atlantichealthpartners.com for more information and details about how your practice can participate in this program.
Other vaccine pricing and contract resources
AAFP and the American Academy of Pediatrics have put together some new resources to help in the fight for higher payment for vaccinations.
“Model Contract Language for Vaccines” shows you what your managed care contracts should contain for proper reimbursement of vaccinations.
These documents are posted in AAFP’s Private Sector Advocacy pages in the “Contracting” section under “Health Plans.”
Coding and Billing
>> AAFP list of coding resources
>> Family Practice Management describes CPT code changes for 2008
Family Practice Management
Family Practice Management, a journal published by the American Academy of Family Physicians six times a year, is loaded with great practice management info. Read the current issue or search past issues.
Find a consultant
AAFP can help you locate legal help or a practice management consultant in your area through their online consultant locator, FP Assist.
>> FP Assist
e-resources
Explore the American Academy of Family Physicians’ PDA downloads, which include a summary of recommendations for clinical preventive services tool, a point-of-care asthma tool, and ICD-9 coding tools.
