Improving Human Papilloma Virus Vaccination Rates: Quality Improvement

Human papilloma virus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted infection with a national prevalence of greater than 70 million. Most infections are among persons 15-24 years of age. The HPV vaccine has nearly 100% efficacy when administered before natural exposure. However, national vaccination rates remain less than 50%. Our objective was to improve the rate of initiation of the HPV vaccination series in a resident teaching practice.

We used the Plan Do Study Act methodology for quality improvement. Eligible patients included children 9 through 13 years of age who presented to a general pediatric clinic. We established baseline data by reviewing HPV immunization rates taken from a convenience sample of ≤20 patients per month over 7 months. A key driver diagram guided interventions including resident communication, nursing staff education, family knowledge, and an electronic medical record prompt beginning at age 9. Using standard run chart rules, we plotted monthly postintervention vaccination rates over 7 months of data collection.

Baseline data included 136 patients age 9-13. Run chart monitoring revealed an increase in our HPV vaccination rate from 53% at baseline to 62% by October 2015. Additionally, we observed a statistically significant increase in mean vaccination rates from 50% to 69% (odds ratio 2.071; P = 0.0042). We noted an increase in vaccination rates after resident education initiatives and after implementation of an electronic medical record prompt.

Simple and practical interventions involving residents led to a marked increase in HPV vaccination in our patient population.