Study Finds Provider-Focused Intervention Improves HPV Vaccination Rates

Article

Changing the way doctors practice medicine is difficult, however a new study has shown that combining traditional education with quality improvement and incentives improves human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates in boys and girls. The study, which appears online in the journal Vaccine, has the potential to produce sustained improvements in these vaccination rates.

Every year, approximately three million Americans seek treatment for HPV related diseases. Twenty-seven thousand Americans develop HPV-related cancer while more than 5,000 people die from this disease. HPV vaccines have the potential to prevent up to 70 percent of cancers caused by the virus, but fewer than half of adolescents have gotten all three required vaccinations.

In this study, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) used a multi-component Performance Improvement Continuing Medical Education (PI CME) intervention approach which consisted of repeated contacts, focused education and individualized feedback with physicians. They also provided the physicians the incentive of completing new medical specialty board certification. The intervention was performed in two federally qualified health centers while six other centers in the same healthcare network served as controls. The researchers found that providers were almost twice as likely to vaccinate girls and 10 times more likely to vaccinate boys at intervention compared to control health centers

Recent research emphasizes the importance of providers offering the HPV vaccine at every opportunity, and this study demonstrates the ability of a provider-centered multi-component PI CME intervention to create sustained improvement in HPV vaccination rates.

"Right now, too many Americans suffer from HPV-related cancers. These should be considered vaccine-preventable diseases. Physicians have largely eliminated other vaccine-preventable diseases by working hard to vaccinate all their patients--we hope this intervention will help to improve HPV vaccination rates for our young people," explains corresponding author Rebecca Perkins, MD, MSc, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at BUSM and a gynecologist at Boston Medical Center.

The researchers believe that by blending multi-component continuing medical education with routine data collection using electronic medical records, and leveraging requirements for maintaining board certification, this model has the potential for widespread adoption.

"National data indicate that many boys and girls are not getting HPV vaccines that they should have to prevent cancer-- and lack of provider recommendation is the main reason. We hope to be able to disseminate this education program to other health systems to improve HPV vaccination rates," she adds.

Source: Boston University School of Medicine



Recent Videos
Pathogen Playbook Presenter: Sharon Ward-Fore, BS, MS, MT(ASCP), CIC, FAPIC
Mark Wiencek, PhD
Rebecca Crapanzano-Sigafoos, DrPH, CIC, AL-CIP, FAPIC
The CDC’s updated hospital respiratory reporting requirement has added new layers of responsibility for infection preventionists. Karen Jones, MPH, RN, CIC, FAPIC, clinical program manager at Wolters Kluwer, breaks down what it means and how IPs can adapt.
Studying for the CIC using a digital tablet and computer (Adobe Stock 335828989 by NIKCOA)
Infection Control Today's Conversations with the HSPA President, Arlene Bush, CRCST, CER, CIS, SME, DSMD, CRMST
Infection Control Today's Conversations with the HSPA President, Arlene Bush, CRCST, CER, CIS, SME, DSMD, CRMST
Cheron Rojo, BS, FCS, CHL,  CER, CFER, CRCST
Matthias Tschoerner, Dr Sc
Standardizing Cleaning and Disinfection
Related Content