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CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Universally Recommended Vaccinations: Provider Reminders

CDC

An Evidence-Based Practice

Description

Provider reminder interventions inform those who administer vaccinations that individual clients are due for specific vaccinations. Techniques by which reminders are delivered vary, but can include notes prepared in advance and posted in client charts, alerts in electronic medical records, and letters sent by mail.

The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends provider reminder interventions based on strong evidence of effectiveness in improving vaccination coverage:
• In adults, adolescents, and children
• When used alone or with additional components
• Across a range of intervention characteristics (e.g., computerized or simple reminders, checklists or flowcharts)
• In a range of settings and populations

Results / Accomplishments

Results of the Original & Updated Systematic Reviews:

Original Review (search period 1980-1997):
Twenty-nine intervention studies qualified for the systematic review.
• Vaccination coverage: median increase of 16 percentage points (29 studies)

Updated Review (search period 1997-2007):
Nineteen additional studies were identified in the search period considered in this update. Of these, 15 studies provided common measurements of change in vaccination rates or coverage.
• Median increase in vaccination coverage:
- Overall: 10 percentage points (15 studies)
- Provider reminders alone: 12 percentage points (5 studies)
- Provider reminders with additional components: 10 percentage points (10 studies)
• Reviewed studies evaluated the effectiveness of provider reminders in a range of different client and provider populations, healthcare settings, and for different vaccines.

About this Promising Practice

Primary Contact
The Community Guide
1600 Clifton Rd, NE
MS E69
Atlanta, GA 30329
(404) 498-1827
communityguide@cdc.gov
https://www.thecommunityguide.org/
Topics
Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases
Source
Community Guide Branch Epidemiology and Analysis Program Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Location
USA
For more details
Target Audience
Children, Adults
Kansas Health Matters