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Vaccination Programs: Provider Reminders

CDC

An Evidence-Based Practice

Description

Provider reminders let healthcare providers know when clients are due for specific vaccinations. Reminders are delivered in various ways that may include notes posted in client charts, alerts in electronic medical records, or letters sent by mail or e-mail. They may be handled separately or included in standard checklists or flowcharts.

Impact

The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends provider reminders—when used alone or when combined with additional interventions—to increase vaccination rates among people of all ages from different populations or settings.

Results / Accomplishments

The CPSTF finding is based on evidence from a Community Guide systematic review completed in 2008 (23 studies, search period 1997-2007) combined with more recent evidence (5 studies, search period 2007-February 2012).

The systematic review included 28 studies.

Overall vaccination rates increased by a median of 10 percentage points (22 studies).
-Provider reminders used alone increased vaccination rates by a median of 12 percentage points (7 studies).
-Provider reminders used with additional interventions increased vaccination rates by a median of 9 percentage points (15 studies).

Of the six studies that did not provide a common measure of change for vaccination rates, five reported favorable results.

About this Promising Practice

Primary Contact
The Community Guide
1600 Clifton Rd, NE
MS V25-5
Atlanta, GA 30329
(404) 498-1827
communityguide@cdc.gov
https://www.thecommunityguide.org/
Topics
Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases
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