Enhancing Provider Education to Increase HPV Vaccination Rates in Adolescents

Abstract

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world and in the United States. Despite ACIP recommendations and Healthy People 2020 goals, HPV vaccination completion rates in North Carolina were 41.9% for females and 28.1% for males. The literature demonstrates that provider recommendation is a significant indicator of vaccine uptake. This project aimed to enhance provider education to increase vaccine recommendation frequency and HPV immunization rates among males and females ages 11 to 12. The project team developed and implemented a web-based provider education module utilizing CDC tools from the “HPV You are the Key to HPV Cancer Prevention” campaign. Twenty-seven providers working in ten clinics were invited to participate in a pre- and post-survey of provider attitudes related to the HPV vaccine and frequency of recommendation to patients in the targeted age groups. The Plan-Do-Study-Act method was used to assess ongoing barriers to immunization. HPV vaccination rates were evaluated pre- and post-intervention. At the end of the project, providers reported an increase in recommendation for HPV vaccination and increased confidence in the ability to recommend the vaccine. Immunization rates for the ten clinics increased from 0.37% in the 12 weeks prior to the project, to 1.94% during the 12-week project implementation. Future implications of the findings support the use of provider education to improve immunization rates, and the use of technological modalities to deliver educational resources.