Vaccine Audit of medical practice?

amother

Sun, May 09 2021, 9:08 pm

This past flu season my kids and I got the flu shot. For the ones older than 7 it was at the local pharmacy and the younger ones at a local Urgent Care. My pediatrician is a car ride away and not open Sunday for this, and it was inconvenient to head to the office.
When the pediatrician found out, he was mad that we didn’t get the flu shot by his office but went to a pharmacy and urgent care.
I’m trying to understand if he was upset because it affects his practice somehow or for our own care. Or both.
He said the pharmacy’s flu vaccine (as of last year so not sure why relevant) doesn’t have for all 4 strains. So we could be missing out.
And the other thing he said that really confused me was that his office will get audited bec my kids didn’t get flu shot at his practice? Does anyone here work behind the scenes at a medical practice and could clarify?
(I’m ok if he was upset that his practice lost out, this is his parnassa. I just want to understand how this works. He was really upset.)
I’d love to hear from pro-vaxxers specifically. I already know the perspective of the anti.

amother

Ivory

Sun, May 09 2021, 9:10 pm

I’m surprised.

We used to see a pediatrician in a different city, when dc needed vaccines we almost always went locally and they never had an issue with it.
We also got the flu shot by dc specialist (last yr and this yr). We let the pediatrician know and that was that.

amother

Cerulean

Sun, May 09 2021, 10:43 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I'm guessing this has something to do with incentives from an insurance provider.

https://childrenshealthdefense.....lies/

Your family not getting shots at his office won't trigger an audit... but it brings down his numbers when they review vaccination rates at his clinic.

(children's health defense is an anti-vax website)

amother

Sun, May 09 2021, 10:57 pm

I figured it was about incentives. I do remember him using the word audit and wonder what that’s about. If anyone can shed more light.
The whole interaction made me feel uneasy.
On the one hand, not sure if it bothers me that he’s pressured to have higher vaccination rates. My kids need the flu shot anyway for school.
On the other hand, he was very upset. He started talking about how they were the only practice open every day through out COVID.... His tone was like, how could you.
I’m a people pleaser by nature and the irritation (can’t pin the emotion) he exuded was strong.

amother

Cerulean

Sun, May 09 2021, 11:10 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I don't know. If he's claiming that his clinic gave your family shots that were received elsewhere - he may get 'audited'... but that's him acting very unethically.

amother

Silver

Sun, May 09 2021, 11:13 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Drs do this kind of strong arming sometimes and it’s very triggering because it’s unprofessional and nothing about medical care is supposed to be personal and he’s obviously getting personal and emotionally involved. Not ok.

amother

Sun, May 09 2021, 11:23 pm

amother [ Cerulean ] wrote:

I don't know. If he's claiming that his clinic gave your family shots that were received elsewhere - he may get 'audited'... but that's him acting very unethically.

No he said that having two patients who haven’t taken the vaccine with him is the problem
He wasn’t planning on reporting that he gave them
I didn’t catch the part about who was doing the auditing which is what I’m trying to figure out here from someone who may know what it’s about

MommyM

Sun, May 09 2021, 11:26 pm

My Dr's office doesn't seem to mind if you got shots elsewhere. If you bring proof, they will just add it to your medical record so you have a complete file.
Do flu shots even affect vaccination rates? My doctors don't mind if you decide not to give it, but are pro-vax and try to encourage you to take all the others.

amother

Sun, May 09 2021, 11:27 pm

What bothered me also was how he was trying yo explain why from a medical perspective it was a bad idea, talking about the pharmacies not getting the “best” vaccines - shvach
(I was thinking to myself, if that’s all you could give me regarding medical care, then I’m still sticking with this plan 😅It works for me, I do the shot for hishtadlus and don’t care about the nitty gritties)
So his shaking his head, upset, was trying to make me feel like a bad mom. Or bad customer.
He is starting to offer Covid vaccines and in the email he talked about the teens making sure they’re getting it by him for “continuation of care”. 🤷🏻‍♀️

amother

Yellow

Mon, May 10 2021, 12:18 am

It never occurred to me that I owe it to my doctor to get my flu shots at his office.
I usually do, but there have been times that I haven't.

Flu is a yearly shot - so it's not going to mess up all your vaccination records, and it isn't even a required shot over a certain age (at least in my state).

Do you think he's referring to an internal audit - is he part of a larger group of doctors? There may be pressure on him from there.

But that's not your problem!

amother

Navy

Mon, May 10 2021, 12:20 am

Now you know what it feels like for a patient who wants to delay or not give shots... How they strong-arm, bully or pressure you. It's really not okay. And there should be nothing wrong with your records. Don't let him scare you, you don't have to take responsibility for his office bonuses and paperwork.

amother

Dodgerblue

Mon, May 10 2021, 12:24 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

My pediatrician whom I really trust discouraged getting vaccines at the pharmacy. He said vaccines need to be kept at A very controlled temp and if they aren’t they are worthless. He feels pharmacies aren’t As on top of it.

I don’t think he’d be upset if we went elsewhere but he hasdiscouraged it - he ‘doesn’t need the business financially’.

amother

Mon, May 10 2021, 12:24 am

amother [ Navy ] wrote:

I imagine it’s unpleasant.

amother

Mon, May 10 2021, 12:26 am

amother [ Dodgerblue ] wrote:

I hear that about the temps. Good point. Pity my ped didn’t mention it 😄
How do you know he doesn’t need the business financially?

amother

Denim

Mon, May 10 2021, 12:26 am

The flu strain in the shot is different every year. It depends on which flu strain was around the year before.. Each flu shot has an expiration date. I highly doubt your local pharmacy has outdated shots. I dont know where u are from but in my state, every vaccination given is entered into the city data base. As long as the child got the shot, it doesn't matter where they got it from. The pediatrician probably gets an incentive from the company and he probably feels that all your children's records should be at one place.