Improving Adolescent Immunization Coverage: The Time to Act Is Now

Abstract

Adolescent immunization rates continue to lag far behind infant immunization rates and millions of adolescents remain unprotected from serious and potentially deadly diseases. Adolescent Immunization: Understanding Challenges and Framing Solutions for Healthcare Providers, a whitepaper issued by the UNITY Consortium identifies best practices and common elements among successful adolescent immunization initiatives. The whitepaper, a collaboration of the group’s members, liaisons and invited experts, outlines the INSPECT(Immunization Neighborhood, Sharing, Platform, Educate, Champions and Talk) Imperatives, a call to action urging healthcare providers to increase adolescent immunization coverage rates by improving in one or more of the following areas: (1) Access -maximize opportunities for vaccination and avoid missed opportunities; (2) Education - educate parents and teens to further understanding of vaccines and to elevate prioritization; (3) Advocacy – guide healthcare providers to make confident, concise recommendations for all CDC-recommended adolescent vaccines, along with developing immunization champions who advocate for adolescent immunization within their practice or network; (4) Systems - advance technology, including the use of electronic immunization information systems (IIS), implement standing orders and other tools that improve efficiencies; and (5) Measurement - improve knowledge (and dissemination) of provider and practice progress on meeting adolescent immunization goals (e.g. benchmarking, performance reports).