Maximizing HPV Vaccination: Real-time Reminders, Guidance, and Recommendations - Part 4: Feasibility Trial

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines have potential to prevent an average of 26,900 cancer cases each year in the United States, but vaccine coverage rates remain low. The study team has developed a health information technology (HIT) electronic application (app), Protect Me 4, to help parents and providers assess and have more productive conversations about needed vaccines.

In past studies, Protect Me 4 users have demonstrated three times higher chances of initiating the HPV vaccine. Despite this promise, Protect Me 4 system implementation suffered from very low reach within clinics. In this phase of the project, the investigators will assess the feasibility of implementing Protect Me 4 in community clinics, as well as test vaccination rate data collection strategies and estimate the preliminary efficacy of Protect Me 4 to increase HPV vaccine initiation. Seven clinics will participate in the study, and three will be randomly assigned the use of Protect Me 4. Three of the clinics will act as controls and will not receive Protect Me 4. The final clinic will receive the intervention (but has not participated in any of the intervention development. This clinic will s as a demonstration clinic for the subsequent R01.

For evaluation, vaccination records will be grouped in three-month periods [initial (months 1-3), implementation (months 4-6) and maintenance (months 7-9)] from Medicaid and CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program) claims and Florida Immunization Registry data. During the implementation period (months 4-6), intervention clinics will receive the Protect Me 4 app and External Quality Improvement Support (practice facilitation and external and internal provider peer opinion leaders and provider incentives). During the maintenance period (months 7-9), intervention clinics will receive Protect Me 4 without external support (practice facilitation and external provider peer opinion leaders).

To evaluate effectiveness at the individual-level, the study team will compare vaccination rates between eligible adolescents who visited intervention and control clinics across the three time periods.