Quality Improvement Initiative to Improve Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Initiation at 9 Years of Age

OBJECTIVE: Adolescent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine rates remain low. Early vaccination may improve the efficacy of the vaccine and immunization rates; however, clinicians have not routinely made a strong recommendation for younger adolescents. This study assessed the feasibility of routine vaccination at 9 years of age. METHODS: Three sequential quality improvement (QI) interventions were implemented to shift the initiation of the HPV vaccine to 9 years of age in a primary care network in low-income neighborhoods in Columbus, Ohio. The first intervention changed the electronic medical record alert for the HPV vaccine from 11 to 9 years of age and focused on cancer prevention when discussing the vaccine with families. The second intervention was formation of an HPV QI team. The third intervention was a clinic incentive for HPV captured opportunity rates. Immunization rates were monitored using statistical process control charts to compare the HPV immunization rate in a sample of 9- and 10-year-old children with a sample of 11- and 12-year-old children. RESULTS: The percentage of patients receiving an HPV vaccine before 11 years increased from 4.6% to 35.7% during the 6 months after the QI initiative began and to 60.8% 18 months after the project began. In comparison, the HPV vaccination rate in the sample of 11- and 12-year-olds increased from 78.7% to 82.8% 18 months later. CONCLUSIONS: This QI project used multiple interventions to increase HPV vaccination at 9 years of age in a large primary care network serving a diverse low-income population.