Hey everyone, I think a lot of first time outdoor flu clinics were held this past Saturday (9/12).
I would love to hear how they went and see pictures. I will go first:
[Edited post- the pictures would not load, sorry! Still not sure how to fix that so here is a link to the emails we sent families with the photos- sorry for the extra clicking!] Link to see first two photos: https://conta.cc/2RoZm0j
Link to see photo of my daughter- our family usually goes last once we know that we will have enough flu vaccine for our patients, but we were so nervous about the new format that we used ourselves to test out the drive up/tent set up Link to the photo of my daughter: https://conta.cc/2FLRLqj
Here are 3 photos from our clinic. Everyone checked in and completed flu screening before they arrived, so we had one person standing where you see the little foot stool to confirm identity and direct traffic. The cars were then directed to pull around alongside the tents where they had the option to stay in the car or come inside one of the 2 tents. We will hold another clinic like this on September 26 and 2 at a different location that will be inside- we will only have one family in the office at a time (really just inside the door in the waiting room) and we are using a race track pathway to ensure that nobody passes each other in the hallway when entering and exiting the building. The first indoor one is this Saturday.
Love learning from everyone, thank you!!
Misha
Thatâs my daughter who was the guinea pig for our first ever outdoor administered flu vaccine
Your photos wonât load for me! Congrats on the successful flu clinics. We have one every day outdoor at one of our 5 locations. Everything has been smooth sailing!
Glad to hear everything is going well! Unfortunately, I also canât see the pictures. We are bummed as we had to cancel ours on the 12th due to wildfire smoke.
We had two clinics last weekend- we did them a little differently- families drove in, were checked in by one person using a paper list of pre-registered people- their temps were taken, screening questions asked, they were then directed to a parking spot by the area we were using, then directed to one of two tables set up about 50 feet from each other- there were two chairs for the families to sit and hold the kids at each station, everyone got the vaccines and walked back to the cars and left. We did the hybrid drive in, walk up so that we didnât have the problem of frightened kids strapped into car seats resisting us. The parents could hold and comfort the kids, yet didnât need to come inside. We vaccinated the parents as well. The first day we did 269 shots, the second 300- everyone had an appointment time, and no one waited more than 3 minutes in their cars before it was their turn. It was incredibly smooth! We had 800 people scheduled to come this Saturday and Sunday, but we didnât get out next shipment of vaccine from Sanofi and had to cancel both days! We have rescheduled for the first weekend in October. The clinic went great, but the delay in vaccine shipment was a large setback. Usually we give about 3000 flu vaccines a year (we are a small practice- with 3 docs) we used the first 850 by this week. Thatâs the earliest we have ever given that many vaccines, so families are really hearing the message that is is good to come early this year.
We did one family per 5 minutes- we found that worked well- some families were small- 1-2 people, others large: up to 7 at a time, but it worked. That assumes that all charting is done AFTER the clinic is done, so that means a way of documenting on paper outside during the day who came and where the vaccine was given (right or left arm, leg etcâŚ) and then charting at the end of the day in the EMR. We ONLY used a single lot number for each vaccine for the whole day- made that part easy, we had all visits scheduled, insurance verified, and printed ready for each vaccinator, the check in crew and the MD.
We had our first drive thru clinic on Saturday and I was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly it went! It was cold but sunny so weâre lucky it wasnât raining. Our staff wore the gowns we won in the PMI drawing! We put our tent in the middle of the parking lot. Patients drove up on the right where a staff member asked questions, gave VIS sheet and then the patient drove around to the other side. I donât know how to attach a picture but it is on our Facebook page (Caring Hands Pediatrics). On the left side 2 MAs gave the vaccine. I used my phone as a hotspot so they could enter the vaccines into our EMR. We scheduled up to 3 patients per 15 minute slot (they may or may not have been in same family). Staff had plenty of time to document. We actually ended up waiting for the next round. So we plan to add some more slots for next Saturdayâs flu clinic.
We did drive thru at both of our locations on Sept 12 and Sept 19. One person asking Covid questions and check in, then 2nd person administering shots. We increased capacity from week to week and have increased for this weekend as well. We asked that everyone stay in the car and in their seatbelt/carseat while in the âclinicâ. There are parking spots available they can pull into once they are done to comfort children. Most families that were concerned had both parents present and one was in the backseat with kids. Worked great for us. Parents are already asking if we will continue this next year.
Okay everyone, I know I keep going on about our flu vaccine clinics, but I am just so darned proud of the team for what they put together. They took what we learned from the first two clinics (one outdoor and one inside) and made improvements.
It took our Operations Manager who is a procurement whiz some digging and a couple misses with items that sold out before she could order or would order only to have them delayed. She was persistent and we are happy with this tent.
You can follow this link to see photos of the tent in action. We gave families the choice to stay in the car or receive vaccine in one of the 2 tents which were both set up with exam tables.
We have had two Sunday drive-thru flu clinics and they have been a huge success. We knocked out just about 100 vaccines in each session. Parents love it. We have a greeter whochecks in the patient and hands them clipboard with flu vaccine questions/consent/VIS/survey re this method of receiving flu vaccines. They also get a pen (swag!) with our practice name. They then drive to the front of the line, place car in park and stop engine. Provider orders flu vaccine as soon as patient is checked in. One MA gives vaccine and the other scans. It has worked like a charm. We love working outside, parents love not having to drag their kids in, we love not having to clean anything but the clipboards and it is a chance for provider of the week to be present, talk to the families, and bring out our sense of community. I donât think we will ever be able to take this away!
We just held our 1st outdoor drive-thru flu clinic on Saturday. We teamed up with our community hospital so that they could provide flu vaccine for our parents and we provided vaccine for the children. All of our patients had scheduled appointments, but the hospital had it open to the community with no appointments. In 3 hours, we gave 150 vaccines to our pediatric patients and the hospital volunteers (with our staffâs assistance) gave over 700 flu shots. We scheduled our patients lightly and definitely could have handled a larger volume. It was a huge success! The parents were very appreciative! We have 2 more events planned in October that will be scheduled more heavily and will be all day. I expect that these outdoor drive-thru flu clinics will become part of our new norm!
We had our first drive-through clinic on September 12th. It went amazingly well. We did just under 300 vaccines and now know that we could easily double or triple that number. Some pointers to share with you allâŚ
All patients were scheduled. We could not have done with had these not been scheduled. It keeps it nice and smooth.
We used our online check-in system and send them the link the night before to check-in. This allowed two things-one, we knew about how many to expect and two, we used this information to know commerical vs. VFC.
Set up a check-in tent at the entrance to our parking lot. Once we verified patient was on the schedule and all information was up-to-date then were sent around to one of three tents where we gave the vaccines.
Again, it went super smooth and our staff actually ENJOYED it!! Iâm sharing several pictures. We got instant feedback by sharing pictures of our amazing staff online. Everyone loved it! One of them is the amount of time it took from check-in to leaving the the parking lot after the shots.
Your photos wonât load for me! Congrats on the successful flu clinics. We have one every day outdoor at one of our 5 locations. Everything has been smooth sailing!
