Potomac Pediatrics -- major vent!

[Anonymous]

OP, you are a boob. I HAVE NEVER had problems with Pot. Peds.

Potomac Pediatrics has received a small portion of its H1N1 flu vaccine allocation. This allocation is separate from FIC Providers, LLC (the company that supplies seasonal flu vaccine in our office) and will only be offered to Potomac Pediatrics patients and their families.

We believe that it is essential to vaccinate the highest risk populations first. HOWEVER, we have a limited supply. We will be vaccinating on a first come first serve basis according to the following criteria;
Pregnant women
Parents and caregivers of children younger than 6 months
If you fall into one of these categories, then please come to our walk-in vaccine clinic this Wednesday, November 11th from 6:00pm -8:00pm. You may not line up before 5:00pm!! We ask that all families that come at 5:00, line up in the hallway outside the door and down the hall.

To expedite the process, we ask that you pay with check or cash only. The cost of the vaccine administration is $20.

We will have only the injection vaccine that contains thimerisol (a preservative). The physicians at Potomac Pediatrics believe that this is safe for all age groups. We have been told that we are going to receive preservative-free vaccine at some point in the future, but we do not know if and when that will arrive.

We have a very limited number of doses of vaccine and expect to administer all of it on Thursday. This vaccine will NOT be available through FIC Providers on a walk-in basis.

If you have a high risk condition and an egg allergy that requires the vaccine to be administered at the allergist’s office, please call our office so that we can make those arrangements.

[Anonymous]

OP sounds like a high maintenance, difficult to please patient and I bet they will not miss you when you are gone.

[Anonymous]

PP re: potomac pediatrics _ I have never gotten the message that I can't come in in the afternoon - if I want the doctor to see my kid, they will always see my kid - even if the nurse states that it is likely unnecessary, they will make room, and have done so. Common sense - the doctor WANTS you to come in - that, in this healthcare system, is the ONLY way they will make money. There is nothing to be gained by telling you to sit tight and giving you advice over the phone - that is purely an additional benefit that this doctors' office offers (not all do). The nurse does not function as a gatekeeper - that implies that whenever you call, you are required to get permission from the nurse to come in - that is not the truth at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've had similar mixed experiences with Potomac Pediatrics. I really like the doctors which is why we stay but the OP is not crazy. The practice has a lot of patients and there is a system which is not the best.

If your child is sick you basically must call right at 8am and be able to take whatever appointment is available. I'm OK with that and will turn my schedule upside down if my kid is sick. If your child becomes ill during the day though there is little chance of bring them in in the afternoon. The office staff is very bad in taking a morning call with a yes you should come in but call in the afternoon when they are booked and you get a he will be fine message. You do get a recommendation to just do Tylenol and go to the ER if its gets worse. They seem to view the ER as an extension of their practice when they are busy which is not good healthcare. They have very limited to no-existent after hours call support. If your child is sick after 9pm then either wait or go to the ER. Since they operate like this I end up bring my kid in more. I can't really afford to wait around in the morning and see if he gets better in the mid morning or afternoon. I feel like I am wasting their time but he is high risk.

On the flu shot, we waited in line at PP for about 2 hours on Thursday. I was surprised at that criteria though. DS did had a documented asthma reaction in the office about 10 months ago so we qualified. However, when he develops a cold and becomes asthmatic we do the albuterol and neb right away. They prescribe it over the phone. When I bring him in I usually have done a neb treatment right before so he is not wheezing when we are in the office. I wonder if we had not missed it that one time 10 months ago and he wasn't wheezing in the office if we would not have qualified. I guess in the future I should let him wheeze until we get to the office so I don't have to risk him not qualifying for the right care in the future.

This has not been our experience at all. If I call at 2pm with a sick child they will see me. I've never been told they can't see us.

[Anonymous]

OP, it sounds like you want your pediatrician's office to triage your child into a different category to allow her to receive the injectible. In other words, it seems you are the one deeming her to be in a high risk group because you want her to have an injectible instead of mist. That is going to be a hard sell to anyone in the medical community right now given the absolute scarcity of the injectible. Even DC, open to all, is pushing mist to allow so that people who absolutely cannot take the mist to have the shot. That live virus poses serious risk for certain groups, and like it or not, they get to come first, not your child who is not medically defined as high risk.

If you don't like that definition, then get to your doctor and plead your case.

In case you didn't notice, all of the local jurisdictions are still prioritizing using the CDC guidelines, and some, like MoCo, are really drawing narrower lines.

[Anonymous]

At least your ped has vaccine. Most don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are a boob. I HAVE NEVER had problems with Pot. Peds.

Potomac Pediatrics has received a small portion of its H1N1 flu vaccine allocation. This allocation is separate from FIC Providers, LLC (the company that supplies seasonal flu vaccine in our office) and will only be offered to Potomac Pediatrics patients and their families.

We believe that it is essential to vaccinate the highest risk populations first. HOWEVER, we have a limited supply. We will be vaccinating on a first come first serve basis according to the following criteria;
Pregnant women
Parents and caregivers of children younger than 6 months
If you fall into one of these categories, then please come to our walk-in vaccine clinic this Wednesday, November 11th from 6:00pm -8:00pm. You may not line up before 5:00pm!! We ask that all families that come at 5:00, line up in the hallway outside the door and down the hall.

To expedite the process, we ask that you pay with check or cash only. The cost of the vaccine administration is $20.

We will have only the injection vaccine that contains thimerisol (a preservative). The physicians at Potomac Pediatrics believe that this is safe for all age groups. We have been told that we are going to receive preservative-free vaccine at some point in the future, but we do not know if and when that will arrive.

We have a very limited number of doses of vaccine and expect to administer all of it on Thursday. This vaccine will NOT be available through FIC Providers on a walk-in basis.

If you have a high risk condition and an egg allergy that requires the vaccine to be administered at the allergist’s office, please call our office so that we can make those arrangements.

Gee thanks for sharing the mass email that we all just received just a little while ago earlier this afternoon. I understand that OB offices in MC got injectables for pregnant women in the first part of October, and most if not all of us should be covered by now? And what about other children residing in the home of infants under 6 months old, or pending births? As for my own child, when I call with my child's symptoms, the receptionist always has a nurse call me back before scheduling an appointment, and get the "wait it out" line. We use the nebulizer as needed, esp./mostly at night as needed but only when she is really sick, and the symptoms don't appear as much during the day or when we do get an appointment. Typical for these types of illnesses in young kids. But I guess since there is no clear record of wheezing in the last 12 months, mine doesn't qualify yet. whatever.

[Anonymous]

I love Potomac Pediatrics. OP you are the problem not them. You sound like an angry, difficult person. You are not the only pregnant person who has a kid with a health issue.

[Anonymous]

There is a bigger problem here. The H1N1 vaccine should not be considered the property of Potomac Pediatrics and at their discretion to distribute to a different group or subset. They should be following the same guidelines as the local health department not coming up with their own criteria. If doctors are going to do this then I hate to say it but the vaccine should then only be available through public clinics and not private practices.

I saw their recent note and this make no sense at all. They will vaccinate parents of children under 6 months but not caregivers or siblings? What is the point of that and what medical recommendation is this one based on? It sounds more like trying to keep parents happy than practicing an appropriate public health service.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a bigger problem here. The H1N1 vaccine should not be considered the property of Potomac Pediatrics and at their discretion to distribute to a different group or subset. They should be following the same guidelines as the local health department not coming up with their own criteria. If doctors are going to do this then I hate to say it but the vaccine should then only be available through public clinics and not private practices.

I saw their recent note and this make no sense at all. They will vaccinate parents of children under 6 months but not caregivers or siblings? What is the point of that and what medical recommendation is this one based on? It sounds more like trying to keep parents happy than practicing an appropriate public health service.

They can vaccinate any way they like, and they really are following guidelines.

[Anonymous]

OP, I can almost guarantee you there will be very little line at the flu clinic at Ballou High school on THursday NOve 12 at 5 to 9 PM, if you feel like driving there.

http://doh.dc.gov/doh/cwp/view.asp?a=1370&q=604320&PM=1

I went to one of the DC clinics on Saturday and there wa snot a problem with me being from MD. They have plenty of injectible vaccine.

[Anonymous]

"They can vaccinate any way they like, and they really are following guidelines. "

No they aren't following the guidelines. They are not vaccinating children with asthma if the child has not had a documented instance of wheezing in the office but they are extending it to parents of infants? This is no where in the CDC guidelines.

Fortunately, my child had wheezing in the office but I can't imagine being denied because she hadn't wheezed in the office. I felt so guilty the time I didn't do the neb and when we went in she had to do it in the office. Now I am so thankful we missed it that time! The doctor told us to use the neb more proactively and at the beginning of colds which we do. She does wheeze every time she gets a cold and occasionally when allergy season is in full force or if she gets very upset. If she has a more serious cold that includes chest congestion and coughing we bring her in to make sure she does not have pneumonia. There have been several times where she was wheezing but the neb took care of it. It never occured to me that we should not treat her before we go into the office.

[Anonymous]

OP - go stand in line at a clinic or have your husband stand in line for you and call when the time is near and you can arrive with your daughter. It sounds as if there is a significant wait even at your [soon to be former] ped's office. At the DC clinics the shot is available for those who need it. The DC clinics are very well run and I think that the worst of the lines are probably over.

Frankly, if your DD is high risk you should have managed to get you and her a shot by now as she is going to need a second one 4 weeks later.

This is not easy for anybody and your assertion of entitlement is really annoying to all the people who took their kids and waited in line. If you want a shot, they are out there available to you. If you want the convenience of your Ped's office, well we all do and you have identified nothing that makes you more entitled to that convenience than anyone else. That is why you are getting no sympathy here.

I waited in line for 3 hours with a 4 year old and a very mobile 16 month old at dinner time. I came prepared and made it through (and DH showed up half way through to help which made it possible). Suck it up and deal like everyone else and then find yourself a Ped you like.

[Anonymous]

I have been going to PP for 5 years now and in fact, was there today with my 6 month old twins. I love the doctors - esp Caren Glassman. I think the biggest issue there is you need to advocate for your child if the issue is serious and immediately request a call back from a doctor. I have always received a call within an hour. As for their criteria with the vaccines, it is theirs to administer as best as they see medically fit. My 5 year old doesn't qualify but everyone else in my family, including my nanny, has been vaccinated there. There is really no better practice around.

[Anonymous]

"As for their criteria with the vaccines, it is theirs to administer as best as they see medically fit. "

WTH? If this is the case then no private practice should be allowed to receive the vaccine. This is a public health issue not a commodity or market good. All private physcians should be bound to the same CDC guidelines not allowed to pick and choose criteria or distribute as they see fit. This is a very inefficient way to distribute the vaccine and a poor practice for dealing with a health crisis.