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Reminder Systems and Strategies for Increasing Childhood Vaccination Rates

An important component of an immunization provider practice is ensuring that the vaccines reach all individuals who need them. While attention to appropriate administration of vaccinations is essential, it cannot be assumed that these vaccinations are being given to every eligible person at the recommended age.

Specific concerns about U.S. immunization levels and areas for further study include the following:

  • Childhood immunization rates are still suboptimal.
  • Economic and racial disparities exist.

This page offers many resources and publications describing the need for increasing immunization levels and outlines strategies that providers can adopt to increase coverage in their own practice.

Specific strategies to increase Adult vaccination rates can be found on the Adult Vaccination Information for Healthcare and Public Health Professionals website

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CDC Sources

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External Sources

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Publications/Articles

Cost-effectiveness needs more research, regarding which strategies increase immunization levels with the least expenditure so these strategies can be prioritized.

Sustainable systems for vaccinating children, adolescents, and adults must be developed. High immunization rates cannot rest upon one-time or short-term efforts. Greater understanding of strategies to increase and sustain immunization levels is necessary in order to create lasting, effective immunization delivery systems.

Many strategies have been used to increase immunizations. Some, such as school entry laws, have effectively increased demand for vaccines, but the effectiveness of other strategies (e.g., advertising) is less well documented. Some proven strategies (e.g., reducing costs, linking immunization to Women Infants and Children (WIC) services, home visiting) are well suited to increasing rates among specific populations, such as persons with low access to immunization services.

A selection of the articles published on this topic are listed below. The first three are general reviews, and the remainder are stratified by strategy type.

General

Strategy Type Representative Articles

Home Visits

School requirements

Client/family incentives

Client reminder recall

Standing Orders

Provider reminders

Provider feedback

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants & Children (WIC) Settings

Health Care System-Based Interventions Implemented in Combination

Community-Based Interventions Implemented in Combination

Reducing Client Out-of-Pocket Costs

Immunization Information Systems

Schools and Organized Child Care Centers

 

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