Practice Management
In a new brief, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone ages 6 months and older receive an updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine and flu vaccine once the updated formulations become available this fall—ideally aiming for vaccination in September or October. A few distinct situations have varying dosing schedules for flu vaccines. Just as one example, CDC said adults (especially those 65 years old and older) and pregnant moms in the first …
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It would be easy to make the argument that social media—and Big Media, at times—have done a great job of overriding scientific proof that the best way to avoid getting the flu is by getting vaccinated. It seems that every reluctant patient has it on the authority of YouTube or Twitter that vaccines do more harm than good, no matter how much data you throw at them. Some may have even seen the Tweet television …
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Despite the fact that pregnant women and infants are increased risk for severe, influenza-related illness, nearly half of women approaching childbirth fail to get a flu shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, in a recently published study, the CDC also found that simply offering to give a pregnant woman a flu shot increased the rate of coverage from 56% to around 70%. The report is careful to distinguish making a …
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Despite longstanding advice that people over the age of 6 months should be vaccinated against influenza, more than half of healthcare professionals (HCPs) opt out unless they’re required to get a shot by their employers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 75% of HCPs got a flu shot in preparation for the 2016-2017 flu season—but in clinics and other settings where vaccination was not “required, promoted, or offered on site,” …
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Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc, is Practice Management Editor for JUCM, serves on the Board Directors of the Urgent Care Association of America, and is Vice-President of Strategic Initiatives for Experity. Urgent Message: Flu shots decrease health-care expenses, workplace absenteeism, and lost productivity, so why do most insurers not cover their cost when patients get the shots at urgent care centers? It is time for this practice to change. According to the U.S. Centers for …
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