Flu Shot Vent

[luvmarypoppins]

I am successfully getting ds 15 who is an asthmatic a flu shot today and let me tell you trying to get it for him was like winning the lottery. I had told his regular pediatrician I was getting it from the allergist/immunologist. Well also ds works filing sometimes for the allergist etc. So when I take him there they say, oh we are only giving it to our most severe asthmatics. I call the pediatrician and tell him this. They tell me they have alotted their whole lst shipment already and will have to order more if they can get it alloted to them. I beg and plead, she asks me if ds is a "high risk patient". hello he is your patient, don't you know already. I tell her all the meds he takes from other dr. etc. She says, oh great he qualifies as our high risk. Show up here today at 3:15, if you are late we are giving his shot to someone else. So you know where I will be at 3:15 today. Gheesh, I thought this would be easy, last year he couldnt get it due to the shortage and he came back from disney with a nice case of pneumonia. I hope everyone else doesnt have to go through the hassles like we did here.

 

[Poohgirl]

Wow that is too bad. Sorry it was so tough. My son is asthmatic as well and I was called by his Ped. to bring him in for the flu shot. No problems here.

 

[Chuck S]

None of the doctors in our town have the flu shots this year, we all have to get them from the county health dep't or the Sr. Citizen center. They encourage folks to get them, then have no availability. What is our health care system coming to? A lot of folks went to Mexico and Canada last year to get their shots.

 

[Christine]

luvmarypoppins--

I would have some serious issues with this pediatrician of yours. I'm thinking that they just don't manage their flu shot program well.

My son is a moderate to severe asthmatic. Last year they made sure that he got his shot. However, I will say that I always call for my flu shot appointment in late September.

This year I called and was told that only high risk patients would be given the shot right away and that low risk patients had to wait for their shot until October 24th. So I had my son in there on October 21st and my DD (who is low risk) in the office on the 24th. I tried to get my DD in on the same day as DS but since she was low risk, they wouldn't budge and "slip" her in. They wanted to make sure that all high risk patients got their shot.

Sounds like they need a better manager there.

 

[pjlla]

Wow.... DH got his the other day without even trying. He was getting a treatment at the infusion clinic at the hospital. He was told by the nurse that all infusion patients could get a shot that day for free. He went to the other end of the hospital, signed a form, and got his shot.... for FREE! I don't think that he would be considered high risk at all..............P

 

[minkydog]

The problem with flu shot supplies is not that there isn't enough, but that they don't all get shipped out at the same time. Manufacturers ship to their previous years' customers first, then new customers. Last year a lot of doctors ordered their shipments from a company which had contaminated vaccines, resulting in shortages. This year, those doctors had to order from another company. Guess what? They're the new customer. Their orders go to the bottom of the list. That's why some doctors(and groceries and malls) have them and others don't.

My DH has stage 3 heart disease and stage 4 lung disease; he takes 14 meds and 2 inhalers daily. A bout of the flu would hospitalize him, at the least. Neither his cardiologist nor his pulmonologist has the flu shot yet. They are expecting their shipments the end of November. He went ahead and got his at work for $10 in the cafeteria. That was 10 bucks well spent.

 

[wdwmom2]

I beg and plead, she asks me if ds is a "high risk patient". hello he is your patient, don't you know already.

I work in a pedi office. Sorry, but with the 14,000+ patients we have, no we don't hear a patient's name and automatically remember that they are high risk. We do a print out of high risk patients and do our best to call them all regarding flu shots,but ultimately it is the parent's responsibility to contact us to schedule a shot.

This is not a flame, just the way it is.

 

[minkydog]

I work in a pedi office. Sorry, but with the 14,000+ patients we have, no we don't hear a patient's name and automatically remember that they are high risk. We do a print out of high risk patients and do our best to call them all regarding flu shots,but ultimately it is the parent's responsibility to contact us to schedule a shot.

This is not a flame, just the way it is.

Good point. I finally got wise and changed peds to a very small group because every time my DS got sick, we had to see a different partner and go into the whole background. Because they didn't really know him, when they did see him they didn't know whether he was normal or not. Usually they just assumed, "well he is mentally ******** so he just acts lethargic"--NOT! After he suffered a concussion the doctor just really didn't know him well enough to treat him(so i took him straight to the ED afterward!) I found a small group with two doctors. The office staff knows me by voice; they know Christian by sight. When I bring him in my arms, they know he's really sick--I don't have to explain. I don't expect them to remember all the details of his various problems, but they know him well enough to know when he's acting "off."

 

[wdwmom2]

Good point. I finally got wise and changed peds to a very small group because every time my DS got sick, we had to see a different partner and go into the whole background. Because they didn't really know him, when they did see him they didn't know whether he was normal or not. Usually they just assumed, "well he is mentally ******** so he just acts lethargic"--NOT! After he suffered a concussion the doctor just really didn't know him well enough to treat him(so i took him straight to the ED afterward!) I found a small group with two doctors. The office staff knows me by voice; they know Christian by sight. When I bring him in my arms, they know he's really sick--I don't have to explain. I don't expect them to remember all the details of his various problems, but they know him well enough to know when he's acting "off."

I'm sorry about your situation with your previous Dr. Most of the "higher management" patients, for lack of better words, are at least recognized by the staff and doctors(doctors, as in the ones that don't routinely see them) and we have an idea of what the patients everyday problems are. What I was trying to say about not recognizing every patient by name, is that alot of our asthmatics are healthy in every other way except for the asthma. We rarely see them for sick visits, they are well managed by their parents. So when answering a phone call on a very busy day, it's always good for the parent to say what the child's problems are. It just makes everything alot easier.

 

[poohbear1029]

I am frustrated because I cant find one. I am pregnant and also have asthma and another medical condition. The OB doesnt carry the flu shots, the clinic on base doesnt have them yet.

It gets really frustrating that every year they know that they need to produce and distribute the flu vaccine and every year it is such a flippin mess!!!!

The whole state of our healthcare system/pharmacuetical system in the states is a mess!!!

Oh, yet my Dad with no medical conditions was able to walk into his clinic at work and just get one!!! Does this make sense?

 

[Belle1962]

Unfortunately, as long as flu vaccines aren't "big money makers" for pharmaceutical companies to make and they don't get any protection from potential litigation--they are free to decide how much to make each year.

By the way--they are also responsible for their own distribution. I heard on CNN this weekend that some companies ship direct, while others employ a "middleman" for shipping. Also--many places under-ordered the amount of vaccines they would need so it seems some people will be "short"--not due to a "shortage per se" but because their health dept/dr/etc didn't order enough--they underestimated the number of people who would request it. They did say in the story that there is enough--its just slow in being delivered in some places.