Saturday, August 15, 2009

Questions at the doctor's office

Last week my wife took our kids to the clinic to get immunizations for school. I didn't go with her.
After I came home from work, I asked about how it went, if the kids cried, etc., etc.
My blood pressure began to rise when she told me that the nurse administering the immunizations, pulled out a questionnaire and started asking my wife and the kids questions.
The questions started like this, (to my wife) "How do you discipline your children?"
Wife replies, "We use timeouts." (We spank on occasion too.)
Then she turns to my kids, "Does mommy spank you?"
Kids, "Yeah, she spanks us."
Meanwhile, she's jotting down the kid's answers on her notepad.
The questions continue, "What do you eat for breakfast?, What do you eat for lunch?" Etc, etc...
Alright, this is not a WIC appointment. We are not on welfare, we are not at a government clinic, we are paying for the immunization ourselves- out of pocket to a private practitioner.
What in the world are they doing asking these types of questions? Whose database is this going into? Why didn't my wife say, "None of your business" and walk out? (My wife is not the survivalist/conspiracy nut that I am.)
These questions and more are going through my head and I need to call the clinic on Monday to find out what is going on.
Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I'd like to hear about it.
Quote of the Day:

Everything that is right or reasonable pleads for separation. The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of nature cries, 'tis time to part.

Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776
In the News:

4 comments:

Bitmap said...

I've never seen anything like that with our doctors.

I would ask why they are asking those questions.

Red said...

That's quite strange and out of line with a routine visit.

Unknown said...

Never had this happen to us.... Please update everyone on this - This is very interesting.... It really makes you wonder what they are doing with this information. ----Which is NONE of their business!

Jimmy (pen name) said...

My wife told me that she feels just fine answering these questions. Here's why:


If someone was abusing children she would want someone to find out and report it. That abuse could include malnourishment, physical or emotional abuse.

When put in this light, it kind of makes sense- personally, I think they should only ask these questions if they suspect abuse. NOT on a routine check up. Maybe it's a liability issue.

I was not there and so I don't know exactly how the questions were phrased. I never did call the office - my wife told me I was over reacting.

Next time, however, I will go there myself.

Jimmy