Flu season is about to be in full swing, especially as children gather in larger school settings. Here are the critical athenahealth updates you should implement right away:
Use the New 2026-2027 Flu Vaccine Orders and Update Automations
- Review athena’s list of new 2026-2027 flu vaccine order names and NDCs on the Success Community.
- The easiest way to ensure that providers and staff apply the 2026-2027 orders in the encounter workflow is to update Order Sets by replacing the 2025-2026 order with the new 2026-2027 order.
- Consider including the lot number in the order set to make documentation even faster. Don’t forget to update the order set periodically as lot numbers change!
- Build Encounter Plans that pull in the 2026-2027 order set to streamline documentation even more.
- Consider a flu-specific schedule with a non-person provider or a flu specific appointment type to bring greater clarity to self-scheduling and improve reporting capabilities.
- Ensure NDC mappings in the Billing Admin > Fee Schedule aligns with the new 2026-2027 NDCs.
- Update flu specific consent forms under Clinical Admin > Clinical Paper Forms and Communicator Admin > Self Check-in Settings > Manage Digital Forms.
- Reconfigure Order Type & Procedure Template mappings to align with the new 2026-2027 flu order names. This ensures the proper CPT automation triggers on claims.
Leverage Automated Wellness Outreach and the Quality Help Center
- Use athena’s Automated Wellness Outreach for Influenza (Child & Adult) to remind patients to schedule vaccines—boosting compliance while reducing front office workload. For more details on athena’s AWO Campaign functionality please review these FAQs.
- Regularly check the Quality Help Center for workflow updates and best practices related to flu vaccinations.
Train Your Team
- Ensure all staff are up to date with flu-specific athena workflows.
- Leverage existing all hands/department wide meetings to review the updated order types and refresh teams on protocols.
- Send a company wide email with screenshots that indicate propriate orders.
- Post job aids and SOPs on company bulletin boards, both onsite and online, so that staff may always revisit the protocols.
Need support? Contact us at info@ignitehs.com to ensure you’re flu-ready for 2026-2027
