Integrated Health Maintenance Reminders for Improved HPV Vaccine Administration: Toward Improvements in Completion Disparities

Abstract

AbstractObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of a health maintenance reminder (HMR) on human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine administration and completion across different age, insurance, and race cohorts.Study DesignRetrospective pre‐post analysis.SettingAcademic primary care.MethodsPatients aged 9 to 26 who had initiated the HPV vaccine series from 2016 to 2021 were analyzed, based on current age‐based standards. The cohort was divided based on vaccine uptake before and after the implementation of the HMR program in February 2020. The multivariate analysis estimated the odds of vaccine completion based on sociodemographic factors, and variable interactions were investigated to determine independent associations between sociodemographic factors and HMR implementation.ResultsThere were 7654 individual patients (mean age was 15.8 years; 46.7 were males; and 50.7% were white). HPV vaccine completion rates increased post‐HMR implementation by 59.2% (37% pre‐, and 58.9% post‐HMR; p < .001) in the entire cohort. Overall, black patients (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.60, 0.70) and patients ≥18 years (aOR = 0.13; 95% CI: 0.11, 0.15) were significantly less likely to complete their vaccine series; however, this improved significantly following HMR in these groups (p < .001). Post‐HMR, race, and insurance status were not independently associated with disparate vaccine completion rates, however, age was, and patients ≤14 or younger had higher odds of vaccine completion (aOR = 3.54; 95% CI: 2.91, 4.32).ConclusionThe implementation of an HMR was associated with increased HPV vaccine uptake across age and race groups in this single‐institution study. Future research should explore barriers to implementing HMRs in different health care settings.