Loving care in health care
Loving care in health care
Dr. Bulmash and Dr. Feldman strongly recommend that each and every child be vaccinated precisely according to the latest recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics. However, we respect every parents concerns. These recommendations are made by the top doctors and scientists from the AAP, who are world renowned experts, and we trust the these experts and these recommendations. The latest schedule can be found at https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/immunizations/Pages/Immunization-Schedule.aspx. This is what Dr. Bulmash and Dr. Feldman do for their own family members, and this is what recommend to our patients.
However, should a family choose not to vaccinate their children, we adhere to the guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The full details can be found here: https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/115/5/1428.full See the following excepts:
We will listen carefully and respectfully to the parent's concerns, and we recognize that some parents may not use the same decision criteria as the physician and may weigh evidence very differently than the physician does
We will share honestly what is and is not known about the risks and benefits of the vaccine in question. We will attempt to understand the parent's concerns about immunization, and attempt to correct any misconceptions and misinformation.
We will assist parents in understanding that the risks of any vaccine should not be considered in isolation but in comparison to the risks of remaining unimmunized.
We will take steps to reduce the pain of injection. We will permit a schedule of immunization that does not require multiple injections at a single visit.
We will never let financial concerns get in the way of vaccinating our existing patients. We will vaccinate uninsured existing patients of ours without charging the patient.
We will respectfully revisit the immunization discussion on each subsequent visit.
We will respect a parent's continued refusal after adequate discussion, unless the child is put at significant risk of serious harm (as, for example, might be the case during an epidemic).
We will not dismiss patients from our practices solely because a parent refuses to immunize his or her child. However, when a substantial level of distrust develops, significant differences in the philosophy of care emerge, or poor quality of communication persists, we may encourage the family to find another physician or practice.