First, thank you for choosing University Health Service (UHS) for your allergy shot care. UHS administers allergy shots or immunotherapy (IT) as a service to our students if they are already under the care of an allergist and receiving IT. This service helps to offer the convenience for students to maintain their allergy shot schedule while on campus. Here is some important information that will help you through the process.
Eligibility for IT at UHS
If you are currently under the care of an allergist and receiving allergy immunotherapy, a registered/licensed practical nurse at UHS can administer your injections in the Allergy Clinic after a medical record review and approval from a UHS physician. A medical consultation to establish a primary care provider at UHS is also required and must take place within 90 days of starting allergy shots. Please do not have your allergist ship your allergy serum vials to UHS until they have received an acceptance letter from UHS.
- Currently enrolled U-M students and UHS Prepaid Plan members: You are eligible to receive allergy shots at UHS.
- Non-students: Please see Who Can Use UHS? for eligibility and insurance criteria.
For questions about eligibility and establishing care, please call 734-764-8320.
To receive allergy shots at UHS that are prescribed by a U-M allergist
- After you are approved to receive IT at UHS, your allergist will send a supply of your antigen to UHS.
- Schedule an appointment by calling 734-764-8320.
To receive allergy shots at UHS that are prescribed by a home (non-U-M) allergist
Explain to your home allergist that you want to get allergy shots at University Health Service at the University of Michigan. You may wish to provide the instructions included here or direct them to this webpage.
- Have your allergist send your medical records to UHS.
- Register as a patient at UHS by calling 734-764-8320.
- After you are approved to receive IT at UHS, you will need to arrange for a supply of your antigen to UHS (directions below).
Your allergist may have an “Administration of Immunotherapy” agreement for us to sign and return. Please let them know we do not sign these. Instead, we can fax our own agreement at their request.
Once you have been approved and we have all your required documentation, you can deliver your allergy serum vials by hand, or the home allergist can ship them overnight. UHS accepts delivery Monday–Thursday during clinic hours. Include the required information (listed in the next section) and deliver to:
University Health Service
Allergy Clinic
207 Fletcher St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Allergy serum must be kept cool during transport. We recommend the use of a cooler or ice pack for extended travel/transport of your serum.
UHS will provide the service of storing allergy serum vials for patients between injections. All allergy serum vials will be stored in a temperature-controlled refrigerator.
For safety, the treatment plan prescribed by the home allergist will be reviewed and verified again when the vials arrive at UHS to ensure the treatment plan correlates with the serum delivered.
Allergy serum vials must be labeled and arrive with:
- Name, date of birth, antigen agents, concentration, and expiration date.
- The immunotherapy dosage schedule and serum ingredients in each allergy vial.
- Date and dose of last shots received.
- A plan for modification of the dosage if the patient is late for the injection or if there has been a reaction with the previous injection.
- Guidelines for administration of allergy injections based on reaction size, including clearly defined parameters describing possible reactions.
Afterward, the patient will be contacted (by phone or portal) to schedule an appointment. The time between receipt of antigen and the first injection can be up to two weeks, depending on the time of year and number of new patients.
At your first appointment in the Allergy Clinic, you will be educated on UHS immunotherapy guidelines, expectations, and injection safety, and asked to review and sign a consent form before a shot is given.
Reordering of allergy serum is the responsibility of the patient. The UHS Allergy Clinic nurses will assist with informing the patients when it is time to order new serum. All new vials must be accompanied by new & complete orders/instructions.
The patient will be given a copy of their current immunotherapy administration record for reordering purposes.
Some home allergists require that the patient visit prior to shipping us additional antigen. Please ask your home allergist their preference, so you can schedule visits over school breaks (e.g., fall, Thanksgiving, winter, spring break, etc.) if needed.
WE NO LONGER SHIP OUT SERUMS. It is the responsibility of the student to come to UHS, sign the serum release form, and transport the serum home during breaks or ending IT. UHS will provide packing, storage for transport, and any documentation needed. However, you are ultimately responsible for maintaining the extracts as recommended by your allergist (maintaining proper temperature, sterility, storage conditions, etc.). We cannot be responsible for reactions or adverse effects from improperly maintained allergy extracts and cannot verify their safety.
The serum release form indicates that you are taking the serum from UHS and that it is to be administered only in a healthcare setting.
There are fees for allergy injections for all patients:
- Antigen: All patients are responsible for antigen costs through their allergist.
- Injection fees: All patients are charged an injection fee of $36 for a single injection, or $42 for ≥2 injections.
UHS will bill patients' personal health insurance for injection fees. UHS will bill students for any remaining costs for allergy injections that their personal health insurance does not pay.
- We recommend that patients consult with their personal health insurance to learn about benefits for allergy shots.
- To see a list of health insurance plans UHS is contracted with and in-network with, see How UHS Works with Health Insurance.
- For all other insurance companies, please check to see if they will cover shots. (You may be asked for our “procedure codes,” which are 95115 & 95117 and/or our tax ID number, which is 383422836.)
- If you do NOT want your insurance to be billed, you may make payment arrangements with the UHS Patient Billing Office on the SAME DAY that you receive allergy shots. Payment must be made within 30 days.
- Patients may be responsible for paying insurance deductibles, co-payments, co-insurance, or any other costs not covered by insurance.
- If you have questions about costs, billing, or payment options, please contact the UHS Patient Billing Office.