Most practices know what they pay for vaccine inventory. Few know what they’re actually paying to run the program. That’s not a failure of attention. It’s a consequence of a model that was never designed to make the full cost visible. Why?
Because vaccines used to be easy. Today, everything around them is complicated. The buy-and-bill model made sense when formularies were narrow, payer rules were predictable, and the administrative load was manageable. That’s no longer the environment most practices operate in. Immunization schedules have grown, payer complexity has increased, and documentation requirements continue to rise.
The model hasn’t kept pace, and the gap between what the model was designed for and what practices actually deal with today doesn’t disappear. It gets absorbed, quietly, in places that rarely show up on a budget report.
That true cost? It hides in three places: what it’s costing your cash flow, what it’s costing your staff, and what it’s costing your patients. Together, they add up to more than you may think.
Understanding these three pillars can help you see your vaccine program with fresh eyes. Here’s a closer look at each one, and what it means for your practice.
