Improving Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Rates in Adolescents: A Quality Improvement Project

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) project was to implement an evidence-based intervention to improve the HPV vaccine series completion rates in the pediatric primary care setting. The goal of the project was to increase HPV series completion rates in adolescents aged 11 to 12 by 10% within 3 months of implementation of the intervention.

Methods: A multicomponent intervention was implemented at a pediatric primary care office that included a chart review of 11- and 12-year-old adolescents who had received their first and second dose of the HPV vaccine from June 2019 to June 2020 and patients from June 2020 to June 2021 that only received their first dose of the HPV vaccine. Patients who had only received their first dose between June 2020 and June 2021 and was in the timeframe to receive their second dose was contacted via telephone to schedule an appointment for their vaccine. At the time of scheduling the appointment, verbal consent was obtained to send a follow-up text message reminder two to three days prior to the scheduled appointment date.

Results: HPV vaccine series completion rates increased by 12.5% during the 3-month project period. However, the collection data size varied significantly between the number of patients used for the pre-data and post-data collection.

Conclusions: An evidence-based intervention can have a significant impact on improving the HPV vaccine series completion rates within adolescents with minor practice changes.

Key Words: Human papillomavirus, HPV, adolescent, vaccination, vaccines, compliance, text messages reminders, phone call reminders