Florida recently announced plans to roll back all vaccine mandates, including long-standing school immunization requirements. If these changes move forward, physicians and practice managers will be on the front lines of managing the impact.

This isn’t just a public health debate, it’s a workflow, compliance, and revenue challenge for practices.

What’s Changing

• Florida’s Surgeon General and Governor announced their intent to end all vaccine requirements, including those tied to school entry.
• Some mandates are written into law, meaning they’ll require legislative action. Others can be removed through the Department of Health directly.
• The timeline is uncertain, but practices should expect parents to start asking questions immediately.

What It Means for Practices

• More exemption requests: Families may ask for religious or medical waivers, creating more paperwork for providers and front-desk staff.
• More vaccine counseling: Physicians may spend additional time discussing immunizations with hesitant families, often without clear reimbursement.
• Higher outbreak risk: Diseases like measles and whooping cough could see a resurgence, leading to spikes in sick visits, testing, and reporting requirements.
• Unclear requirements at school physicals: Front-desk teams will need clarity on what documentation is still required for school and daycare entry.

The Revenue & Workflow Impact

• Lost billing opportunities: Vaccine counseling and refusals can be billed with proper coding, but missed documentation means missed revenue.
• Increased administrative time: Staff will spend more time on exemption forms and parent communication — taking them away from other tasks.
• Potential surge in acute visits: Outbreaks may increase patient volumes, but only practices with efficient billing processes will capture the full revenue.

How to Prepare Now

• Review current school entry requirements and exemption processes.
• Update EHR prompts and standing orders for routine immunizations.
• Train staff on evidence-based vaccine counseling and documentation.
• Revisit coding and billing for:
  • Vaccine administration
  • Vaccine counseling when refused
  • Outbreak-related visits and testing

Billed Right’s Take

Policy shifts like this create uncertainty for practices. Whether mandates end or remain, the administrative burden and billing complexity will rise. Billed Right helps practices:

• Capture every billable service, including counseling.
• Reduce denials with clean, accurate claims.
• Train staff on documentation that supports proper reimbursement.
• Monitor financial performance to ensure vaccine-related workload doesn’t translate into lost revenue.

Bottom line: Florida’s vaccine policy debate will play out in the legislature, but practices will feel the impact right away. By preparing your workflows and revenue cycle now, you’ll be ready for whatever changes come next.