Lessons Learned From the Implementation of a Clinic-Focused HPV Vaccination Initiative

TL;DR

This paper describes lessons from implementing a training initiative to help healthcare providers better recommend the HPV vaccine to patients and parents.

Contribution

The paper provides insights into the challenges and adaptations needed to improve provider engagement in HPV vaccination programs.

Findings

Provider participation rates improved slightly in the second cycle of the initiative.

Barriers included slow response rates and high clinic turnover.

Tailoring interventions to specific clinical settings was crucial for success.

Abstract

Strengthening provider recommendation is an effective strategy in increasing the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake. A quality improvement (QI) initiative called “Communicating about HPV to Adults and Teens” (HPV CHAT) was initiated to support providers with communication tools to discuss HPV vaccination with parents and patients. We described lessons learned for implementation of a clinic-based provider training for HPV vaccination.

HPV CHAT was implemented in safety-net hospital clinics, practice-based research clinics, and federally qualified health centers between September 2021 and August 2023. Guided by the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) model, we retrospectively evaluated process improvements across 2 implementation cycles.

Overall, 318 providers participated across the 2 cycles. Key activities in the first cycle included identification of clinic needs, development of asynchronous virtual training, advisory board feedback, recruitment communications via practice and clinic managers, and provider participation monitoring. Barriers included slow response to participation (58.3% response rate) and high turnover rate in some clinics. Results from the first cycle informed activities implemented in the second cycle. In the second cycle, participation rate was 60.6% and varied across settings due to strength of clinic collaborations and prior knowledge of the implementation process.

The success of HPV CHAT underscores the need to proactively tailor interventions for clinical settings.

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