This article is for health care providers who bill for flu vaccinations.
Cold and flu season is here, and we need your help protecting our members – your patients. With flu season peaking between December and February, now is the time to encourage your patients to take the annual flu vaccine, which is free of charge for most Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts members.
Here, we’ll share important information about Blue Cross coverage and billing information for the flu vaccine, as well as several reminders on its importance.
Blue Cross follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations for the 2022-2023 season.
Data from the CDC show that patients are making significantly more visits to their doctors’ offices in the early part of the 2022-2023 flu season than in any of the past five flu seasons. As we slowly move away from precautions that became commonplace in the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, flu-like illnesses could be seen at higher rates than we’ve seen in recent years.
Source: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm
Promote the flu vaccine to your patients with a reminder that it helps to reduce the spread of the virus to their loved ones. This is especially true with high-risk populations, such as people with certain chronic conditions and adults over 65.
As you know, getting a flu shot reduces the risk of:
If we each do our part and get vaccinated, we can lessen the effects of this year’s flu season just like we did last year.
While diminished, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect thousands of patients and to strain health care capacity. This makes it especially important for patients to receive the flu vaccine this.
Fortunately, the flu vaccine and COVID-19 booster shot can be administered during the same visit and co-administered within 14 days.
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