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Fishers to offer travel vaccines May 1; department sets pay-upfront fee and plans STI services in mid-May
Summary
Fishers Public Health Department plans to begin travel vaccine consultations May 1 (self-pay) with a $60 consultation fee, an additional $20 per vaccine administrative fee and a charge equal to 110% of vaccine cost. The department also intends to add sexually transmitted infection testing and pregnancy testing around May 18-19.
The Fishers Public Health Department told its board April 24 that it will begin offering travel vaccination consultations on May 1 and will roll out sexually transmitted infection (STI) and pregnancy testing services roughly two weeks later.
"That includes yellow fever? Yeah. Yes. And we've already received it. We have it in house," Jen Engleman, assistant director of operations, said when asked about specialty vaccines. Engleman explained the department will collect payment at the time of service and will not bill insurance for travel vaccines by default.
Under the department's fee plan presented to the board, travel services will include a $60 travel consultation fee, a $20 administrative fee per vaccine and a charge to the patient equal to 110% of the department's vaccine purchase cost. Staff said patients may submit receipts to their insurers on their own but the clinic will operate as self-pay for travel vaccines. The department also expects some insurers to reimburse depending on the plan.
Staff warned that specialty vaccines beyond the department's initial stock (for example, some Japanese encephalitis or chikungunya vaccines) will be available by order on demand, with staff saying turnaround on ordered vaccines can be within several days ("We ordered Friday afternoon and they ordered by Monday,") and that the department will monitor demand and quickly adapt supplies.
The board also heard that STI screening and pregnancy testing services will go live mid-May. Staff said those services are intended to provide local access to screening and, where clinically necessary, treatment referrals. Staff said they will not heavily market the STI services at launch but will list them on the department website and expand outreach if demand grows.
Board members asked about clinic revenue and billing problems. Staff described an administrative complication: the health department and Fishers Fire Department share a tax ID, which has caused some UnitedHealthcare claims to route to the fire department rather than the health clinic. Staff are working with the electronic health record and billing vendors to separate and correct those claims.
The department emphasized that the travel-vaccine strategy is partially aimed at expanding billable clinical revenue and increasing local connections with residents and visitors, and staff said they will collect early operational metrics to determine whether clinic hours or staffing must be revised.
