Vaccine Charge Items
A vaccine is billed like any other charge item, but it carries details no other item needs — which product was given, from which package, and from which batch. SigmaMD keeps those fields on the charge item itself, so the information is already in place when the vaccine is administered.
Where to set them up
Vaccine charge items live under Billing → Charge Items, and two pieces are involved:
- On the Categories tab, + Category → Vaccine creates the category. It holds the name, the markup, and a VFC (Vaccines for Children) toggle.
- On the Non-inventory items tab, + Item → Vaccine non-inventory creates the item, and that is where the product, the batch and the price are recorded.
Every vaccine item is a non-inventory item, so it is not counted against stock — but it still records the batch it came from. The item form is split into five groups, described below.
Product Overview
When the charge item belongs to a vaccine category, the form opens on Product Overview:
- Vaccine — selected from the vaccine compendium rather than typed.
- Code — the CVX code that comes with the product.
- Name — how the item appears on invoices and in search.
- Category — the vaccine category the item belongs to.
- Dose amount — expressed in mL.
Choosing from the compendium keeps the product consistent across the practice and drives the package options you can pick from.
Batch information
The Batch information group records what arrived:
- Lot number
- Expiration date
- Package NDC — optional, and limited to the packages published for that product.
- Manufacturer — suggests what the practice has used before, and accepts a new name.
These travel with the item, so administering the vaccine does not mean re-entering the lot and expiration by hand.
Markup
The item can carry its own markup, on top of the one set on the category. The group shows the category’s markup for reference and offers Percentage markup, Fixed amount markup or No item markup.
Sales Tax
A vaccine category carries no sales tax profile of its own, and the group says so. The item can still be given one with Sales tax profile, or be left with No item sales tax.
Price
Pricing sits in its own group:
- Base price — what the practice paid.
- Retail price — calculated, not typed. It follows the base price and the markups above.
Only Base price is editable here; Retail price is shown for reference.
Vaccines for Children (VFC)
A category can be marked for VFC with the VFC (Vaccines for Children) toggle. The vaccine is not priced by the practice, so an item in a VFC category shows no Markup and no Sales Tax group, and its Base price is locked at $0.00.
Important considerations
One item holds one vaccine product, and each batch you receive becomes a row under it — the list shows the lot number and expiration date per batch, and the item row expands to show them. Because the batches belong to the item:
- Moving an item to another category moves all of its lots with it.
- Renaming an item renames its lots as well.
Because the lots follow the item, changes made for tidiness do not break the link to what is physically on the shelf.
Need Help?
If you have any questions or encounter issues, feel free to email us at help@sigmamd.com for assistance.