The first batches of the swine flu vaccine, recently proven effective with one dose for most people, will arrive in 25 states and many major cities next week - as early as Monday in some areas, according to published reports. A total of 600,000 doses will arrive next week, so if your practice wants to offer swine flu shots, you'll need to request doses from your state health agency. You'll also want to freshen up on our coverage of CMS's billing and coding policy for the swine flu vaccine, which will be free to practices.
NOTE: If you've got about two minutes on your hands, please take our October 2009 swine flu survey - it's a mere five questions and participating will help us with our coverage next week.
In any case, stay tuned for a more comprehensive piece on how your peers are being affected by swine flu in the next issue of Part B News.