Promoting Strategies to Increase HPV Vaccination in the Pediatric Primary Care Setting

Abstract

Introduction: Evaluation of a quality improvement project designed to improve HPV vaccine uptake in a pediatric primary care setting for young adolescents.

Method: Three strategies were implemented in one private pediatric practice to promote HPV vaccine uptake for 11- and 12-year-old adolescents. 1) a standardized vaccine policy change was made to include HPV vaccine with other adolescent vaccines, 2) a pre-visit email was sent to parents of teens to provide factual vaccine information in preparation for the visit, and 3) a provider communication initiative was implemented to ensure all providers communicated consistent messages and delivered an effective cancer prevention recommendation for HPV vaccination. A pre/post design was used to compare vaccine rates. Data was obtained via the electronic health records.

Results: The post-intervention group demonstrated HPV vaccine rates increased substantially from 17.8% to 63.6%.

Discussion: Strategically implementing standardized clinical vaccine policies and presumprive provider communication practices has implications for significantly increasing HPV vaccine uptake among teens and may be key to preventing cancer among future generations.

Keywords: HPV vaccine; Human papillomavirus; presumptive messaging; provider recommendation; quality improvement.