EHR alerts drive better HPV vaccine compliance

Alerts in EHR systems that prompt providers to begin or continue the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination with pediatric patients lead to an increased rate of protection against cervical cancer, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.

The HPV vaccine is administered in three separate injections but about 85 percent of patients miss at least one opportunity to receive the vaccine while visiting their provider for another service, according to the study.

Researchers assigned 15,000 patients to two groups--one group was treated by providers with EHRs with HPV vaccine alerts and the other group by providers without those alerts.

Providers with EHR systems equipped with the alert were instructed to indicate where the patient was in the process of receiving the vaccination. The alerts increased the incidence of vaccination and helped improve the timeliness of doses.

When providers used EHR systems with the alerts, patients ages 9 to 18 were three times more likely to begin the series of HPV vaccine injections and 10 times more likely to complete the series, the researchers found. Patients ages 19 to 26 were six times more likely to begin the series and eight times more likely to complete it.

The researchers also found the reminders were especially effective for increasing the vaccination rate among blacks, who have been less likely to get the vaccine.