Boosting Hepatitis B Vaccination Rates Among Healthcare Workers in the State of Minnesota

Area of Science:

• Hepatology
• Public Health
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection poses significant health risks, including liver cirrhosis, failure, and carcinoma.
• Healthcare workers are at high risk for HBV exposure, yet 24% remain unvaccinated globally.
• Ensuring adequate Hepatitis B immunization is crucial for healthcare safety and preventing transmission.

Purpose of the Study:

• To reduce overdue Hepatitis B vaccinations among employees and patients in an Internal Medicine (IM) practice.
• To assess the effectiveness of an electronic medical record (EMR) messaging intervention for improving vaccination compliance.

Main Methods:

• An intervention group of 1,000 randomly selected IM patients received two EMR messages regarding Hepatitis B vaccination.
• Messages provided instructions for appointment scheduling and accessing occupational health records.
• A follow-up message was sent four weeks after the initial communication.

Main Results:

• The intervention led to a 14% increase in Hepatitis B medical record compliance updates.
• 780 patients interacted with the EMR message broadcasts.
• Significant improvements in vaccination and documentation were observed within the intervention group.

Conclusions:

• EMR-based messaging is an effective strategy to increase Hepatitis B vaccination and documentation rates.
• Barriers to vaccination compliance include vaccine hesitancy and challenges with record retrieval.
• Addressing these barriers is essential for maintaining a vaccinated healthcare workforce and patient population.