Vaccine invoice item setup and use

Learn about the best practices for setting up your vaccine items to track lots and expiration dates. Using vaccine tags for all vaccines, not just rabies, is recommended to store vaccine information under the Tags/Microchip ID tab of the patient information area on the Patient Clipboard.  This workflow replicates placing a vaccine sticker in a paper chart.

Using this method also lets you quickly find all patients who received a specific lot number of a vaccine using the Patient Vaccine Tag report. 

Setup overview

This setup is recommended to bill vaccines as service revenue and deplete inventory accordingly. This setup is ideal particularly when vaccines are used in multiple vaccination schedules with variable reminders.

• The inventory invoice item is linked to the service item and will deplete inventory and populate the certificate with the appropriate lots numbers and expiration dates.
• The service invoice item is used for billing and will generate vaccine certificates, satisfy and generate reminders, and contributes to revenue in reports.

Inventory Item

• Lists > Invoice Item > search and select the vaccine inventory item > Update 
• Lists > Invoice Item > New 

Information tab

1. Verify the item has the type of Inventory item selected.
2. Hospital description indicates the item is the vaccine, not the service.
3. Be sure the sell unit of measure is accurate. For example, if given or sold by the dose, then the UOM should be dose. 

Inventory tab

1. Select Maintain QOH only. Expiration date and lot will be tracked under the Vaccine tab. 
2. Set the Buy/sell ratio. In the first drop-down, select the form in which you purchase the vaccine, then following the equals symbol, enter how many individual units are in the purchased form. For example: If vaccine is purchased by the tray and each tray contains 25 doses, the buy/sell ratio should display 1 tray = 25 dose.
3. Set reorder information if using the reorder or purchasing work list.

Vaccine tab

1. Select Issue vaccination tag to enable the vaccine tag settings.
2. Select Rabies tag for rabies vaccines only.
   • This flags the item as a rabies vaccine to be added to the Rabies Tag Report.
   • Selecting will also display the Print certificate check box on the Vaccine Tag window.  
3. Enter Producer/Mfr. and Brand information for this vaccine so staff will not need to complete this information manually when generating a vaccine tag. 
4. Select the applicable vaccine Type.
5. In the Administration by species area, do the following:
   • Select the species.
     • Select all possible Manner of Administration/Years combinations that apply to this vaccine and species. Selections will be available from drop-down lists on the Vaccine Tag window.
     • Select Print Rabies Cert. for each applicable Manner of Admin./Years combination. This preselects the Print certificate check box on the Vaccine Tag window.
     • Select Cert Default, if needed, for the selected combination to be the default Manner of administration and Number of years fields on the Vaccine Tag window. You can select different settings from the drop-down lists at time of use.
   • Repeat above steps for additional species, if needed.
6. Click Manage List If you would like to add or delete Manner of Admin/Years combinations. 
   • Click New to select the appropriate Manner of Admin. and Years settings and click OK.  
   • Click Delete to remove a combination and click Yes to confirm the deletion.  
   • Click Close to return to the Vaccine Tab.  
7. In the Available lot number and expiration dates area, enter a list of current lot numbers and expiration dates for this vaccine. This information will be available for selection from the Lot number and Drug expires fields on the Vaccine Tag window.
   • New vaccine information can also be entered on the Vaccine Tag window at time of use.
     • Doing this will prompt to add the new Lot Number/Expiration Date to this vaccine tab list.
     • This is especially useful when first person to open a new tray can enter for all without required access to item setup.
   • When a lot/exp date is consumed, return to this window and remove the lot/exp date row by selecting the row and Ctrl + D. You can also enter new lot/exp details as new product comes in.
8. Click OK to save your changes and proceed to the service item step.  

Service item setup

• Lists > Invoice Item > search and select the vaccine inventory item > Update.
• Lists > Invoice Item > New. 

Information tab 

1. Service type is selected
2. Item information area: Hospital description is what the Cornerstone user will search for and see on PVLs, when invoicing, and patient history, Client descriptions are only necessary if you would like the wording different on reminder communications and printed or emailed estimates and invoices. For example, you may have a hospital description of Canine Influenza CIV H3N2/H3N8 Annual, but prefer Canine Influenza Yearly Vaccination as the client description.
3. Select Display on Vaccine Tab to allow this item to be visible on the vaccine tab of the Patient Clipboard.
4. Set pricing information accordingly. 

Reminders tab 

1. In the Reminders to generate area, right-click > New, Update, or Delete to add or modify a reminder to generate.
2. An item can generate a reminder for itself, like a 36-month reminder for a 3-year rabies vaccination, or for the next recommended vaccine, like a 1-year rabies item with a 12-month reminder for the 3-year rabies vaccination.
   • Letter-type reminders are used for the majority of reminder activities, like postcards, emails, and texting services, and appear on the Reminder Letter reports.
   • Call-type reminders are used to populate call backs on the Daily Planner and appear on the Reminder Recall reports.
3. Reminders can be set for a specific quantity of months or days, or set to ask the number of months or days at invoicing.
4. Right-click in the Reminders to satisfy area > New, Update, or Delete to add or modify a reminder to satisfy. Invoice items will always satisfy their own letter reminder, so this field is primarily used to add items to cross-satisfy reminders. For example, a 1-year rabies vaccination service could be set to satisfy the reminder for a 3-year rabies vaccination.

Link Items tab 

1. Add the inventory vaccine item ID or press F2 to search and select the inventory item that is going to be used when performing this vaccination service. This will deplete the vaccine from inventory and identify what information is being used to populate a vaccine tag.
2. Quantity should be set to one and the Unit of Measure will likely be dose, vial, or mL, depending on the inventory setup of the linked item.

Special Actions tab 

1. Select Vaccine Tag, set to Immediately on invoice/PVL. This will allow the person who is invoicing the vaccine to immediately verify the vaccine information.
2. Click OK.

Using vaccines for charges and reminders

1. Add the vaccine service item to a PVL or invoice. 
2. The Vaccine Tag is generated by the item’s special action. In the tag # field:
   • Enter the tag number being issued. Use the vaccination service name, like Da2PP or Bordetella, when the service does not issue a physical tag.
   • For Rabies, enter the tag number OR leave blank for the front desk to enter the tag number at time of posting the invoice. They will receive a notice for tags to be completed when posting an invoice with incomplete tags.
3. Select the Manner of Administration and Number of years from the drop downs. 
4. Select the lot number and expiration date from the drop down lists. 
5. If the information is not on the list, manually enter the lot and expiration date. 
6. Enter Location of injection, if applicable. For example, Right shoulder, LH, or RR. 
7. Verify/enter staff ID for administering the vaccine.
8. Click OK. 
9. If a manually entered lot/expiration date was entered, a notice will display asking if you want to add the new information to the list. Click Yes for this new lot/expiration number to be saved for next time.

Repeat for each vaccine as needed. 

Additional information

• Some fields are disabled as they do not apply to service type items or if an inventory type item is not set to maintain QOH or is currently on a purchase order.
• All vaccine tags will appear on the Patient Clipboard under the Tags/Microchip ID tab with their given date.
• The expiration date of a tag is not necessarily the due date. Actual due dates will be found under the Reminders tab.
• Double-click the tag number to view the lot number and expiration date.
• Use the Vaccine Tag report to search tags by lot number in the event of a vaccine recall.

Related reports

• Vaccine Tag Report 
• Linked Items Report 
• Invoice Item Information Report 
• Invoice Item Reminder Information Report