Abstract
Purpose: To improve adolescent MenB vaccination rates in the primary care setting.|Background: Serogroup B meningococcal (MenB) disease progresses rapidly and boasts a high fatality rate if left untreated. MenB vaccination rates in the pediatric primary care setting are significantly lower compared to other adolescent vaccines. Lack of MenB vaccination leaves adolescents at risk for contracting severe and potentially fatal strains of meningococcal disease.|Sample/Setting: Patients ages 16-18 in a pediatric primary care clinic in the Omaha, NE metropolitan area that were due or overdue for the first or second dose of the Bexsero (Men B) vaccine.|Methods: Monthly reports were generated identifying patients ages 16-18 that were due or overdue for a first or second dose of the Bexsero vaccine. Upon opening a patient’s electronic medical record (EMR) a reminder prompt notified providers if their patient was due or overdue for a Bexsero vaccination. Opening the patient’s chart in the EMR triggered a pop-up message stating, “Patient due for Bexsero”, which required the provider to acknowledge the alert before they could continue to access the EMR. A red flag at the top of the patient’s EMR also displayed, “Patient due for Bexsero” after the pop-up message was acknowledged. Educational materials created by the primary investigator on the importance of MenB vaccination for adolescents were also distributed to providers prior to the start of this quality improvement (QI) project.|Results: 33% and 26% of eligible patients did not receive a due or overdue Bexsero immunization in the project’s first and second month, respectively. No statistically significant changes were seen post-implementation, with eight Bexsero vaccines administered at acute visits.|Conclusion: Eight MenB immunizations were administered at acute care visits, which may otherwise have been missed opportunities for vaccination. This demonstrates a small clinical significance as eight patients were protected against MenB disease when they otherwise may not have been. It was originally thought that suboptimal MenB immunization rates were related to lack of provider education on MenB disease, yet findings suggest rather a lack of urgency to decrease missed opportunities for vaccination.|Keywords: meningitis, immunization, vaccination, adolescent