Quality Improvement Intervention to Improve HPV Immunization Rates in Rural Primary Care Settings: Policy Recommendations from Post Intervention Survey

It is estimated that 8 billion dollars annually fund the prevention and treatment of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) associated cancers in the U.S. The HPV vaccine is the most effective way in preventing associated cancers when administered on-time, during adolescence. With HPV vaccination rates remaining low across the country, organizations have been researching effective interventions to improve uptake of the vaccine. In this paper we conducted a descriptive analysis of a survey completed by clinicians upon completion of an eighteen-month quality improvement (QI) intervention to increase HPV vaccination rates in rural primary care settings. New research indicates that differences in HPV vaccination rates may be related to clinic characteristics such as provider type, number of adolescent patients, staff confidence in vaccine recommendation and prioritization of quality improvement activities instead of patient differences (Hatch et al., 2022). Our evaluation explored differences among primary care specialty (family medicine and pediatric) as it relates to the likeliness of using QI processes in the future and the helpfulness of study materials and tools. We also explored differences in survey responses based on clinic ownership. We used standard survey analysis (reliability, frequency, mean and standard deviation) in SPSS to analyze the data. Reliability (Cronbach Alpha) of the survey was strong (0.89) and results suggest minor differences between primary care specialties as well as differences in clinic ownership type. This analysis provides context from the clinic’s perspective on the impact of implementing quality improvement interventions in rural primary care settings. Implications to practice and policy will be discussed as a means to support rural primary care clinics in HPV QI activities leading to improved HPV vaccination rates