We like to sort our providers by specialty (Pediatrician, Family Practice, etc). Should we just select ‘Other’ in the Provider Type variable and enter the specialty there?

It is important to first understand how the Provider Type variable functions in the database before selecting ‘other’. ‘Provider type’ is an important variable for the summary reports that you need to produce for the annual VFC Management Survey. Currently, the report reviews the ‘Provider Type’ field and classifies the provider as ‘Public’ or ‘Private’. For example, the options ‘public health dept clinic’ and ‘FQHC’ are classified as ‘Public’ in the report and the option ‘private practice’ and ‘hospital based - private’ are classified as ‘Private’ in the report. So, if you select ‘other’ for your pediatricians who are private physicians, these visits cannot be incorporated into the report summary of your activities as they cannot be included with either public or private visits. We are considering adding a variable for ‘Provider Specialty’ to a future version of the software. ... more