Abstract
Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates nationwide are suboptimal. A rural clinic in Minnesota faces a barrier commonly shared by other primary care clinics: Poor completion rates of the HPV vaccine series. Baseline data for this clinic indicated 63.6% of patients ages 11 to 19 had initiated the HPV vaccine series, with only 44.3% having completed the series. This quality improvement (QI) project evaluated the impact of a brief educational intervention followed by the implementation of a patient recall/reminder system for patients ages 11 to 19 who had initiated the HPV vaccine series and were due for additional dose(s). A variety of reminder methods included phone calls, letters, or a combination of the two. Following the implementation of a recall/reminder system, 39% of the cohort received at least one additional HPV vaccine with 36% having completed the series over a three-month period. Of the reminder methods, phone calls had a much higher success rate, as defined by completing the HPV vaccine series, compared to reminder letters (37.9% vs. 14.3%). As supported by the literature, series initiation and completion rates for adolescent vaccines may increase with multiple reminder notices.