Have you heard about standing orders for vaccination?

Guess what?

Standing orders does not mean “covert vaccination without consent.”

Standing Orders for Vaccination

For one thing, there is nothing covert about them.

In addition to the Take a Stand! website, the Immunization Action Coalition has hosted workshops all over the United States on using standing orders to increase vaccination rates.

And they aren’t about vaccinating people without their consent.

So what are standing orders for vaccination?

“Standing orders are written protocols approved by a physician or other authorized practitioner that allow qualified health care professionals (who are eligible to do so under state law, such as registered nurses or pharmacists) to assess the need for and administer vaccine to patients meeting certain criteria, such as age or underlying medical condition.”

10 Steps to Implementing Standing Orders for Immunization in Your Practice Setting

Again, that doesn’t mean you can skip getting informed consent before giving vaccines.

“Having standing orders in place streamlines your practice workflow by eliminating the need to obtain an individual physician’s order to vaccinate each patient.”

10 Steps to Implementing Standing Orders for Immunization in Your Practice Setting

All standing orders do is eliminate the need for doctors and other health care providers to assess and write orders for vaccines on each and every patient they see.

Instead, standing orders help delegate that part of the vaccination process to other qualified health care professionals to help make sure that “immunizations are available at all visits, sick or well, regular hours, or weekend clinics.”

Everything else is essentially the same.

The health care provider giving the vaccine still has to:

• make sure the person needs the vaccine
• check for contraindications or precautions that might mean they can’t get the vaccine
• give them a copy of the current Vaccine Information Statement and answer any questions they may have, getting informed consent to give the vaccine
• prepare, give, and document giving the vaccine
• be prepared for an emergency, such as anaphylaxis
• report adverse events to VAERS

So what’s the benefit of standing orders?

It removes some of the barriers to getting vaccines, such as needing a well child checkup or physical exam, allowing for vaccination-only appointments.

“The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends standing orders for vaccinations—when used alone or when combined with additional interventions—to increase vaccination rates among adults and children from different populations or settings.”

Vaccination Programs: Standing Orders

Standing orders also help make sure that you keep kids on schedule or get them caught up as health care providers automatically check their vaccination status at each and every visit to the office, even during sick visits.

For example, if you child comes in for an appointment in October with a mild ear infection or because they have a wart, a standing order for a flu vaccine can help make sure you child is vaccinated and protected before flu season starts.

It should be obvious that standing orders simply lead to fewer missed opportunities to be vaccinated and protected.

There is nothing covert about them.

“Consent is a communications process, not a form. The process provides an opportunity for the patient to understand the benefits, risks and alternatives to the treatment he or she is about to undergo, and for the physician to explain these in detail. Forms are used to document the process.”

Consents Policy

Not even in the way anti-vax are using them to try and scare you away from vaccinating and protecting your kids.

More on Standing Orders for Vaccination

• Do I Have to Sign a Consent Form Before Getting a Vaccine?
• Immunization Education Agreement
• Can Minors Consent to Getting Vaccinated?
• The Missing Information That Big Pharma Won’t Tell You About Vaccines
• 12 Things Anti-Vaccine Parents Get Wrong
• What Are the Greatest Tricks Anti-Vaccine Folks Use to Persuade Parents to Skip Vaccines?
• More Questions to Help You Become a Vaccine Skeptic
• 10 Steps to Implementing Standing Orders for Immunization in Your Practice Setting
• Using Standing Orders for Administering Vaccines: What You Should Know
• Standing Orders Templates for Administering Vaccines
• Sample Text for Developing Admission Orders in Newborn Units for the Hepatitis B Vaccine Birth Dose
• Vaccination Programs: Standing Orders
• AAP – Standing Orders for Vaccination Model for Improvement
• Vaccination Programs: Standing Orders
• Obstetrics and Gynecology: Special Ethical Concerns for Informed Consent