Technically Speaking: Looking for New Tools and Resources to Help Increase Your Clinic's HPV Vaccination Rates? Here Are Some Great Ones!

The most recently published data from the 2017 National Immunization Survey – Teen showed that, although HPV vaccination coverage has increased annually since 2013, initiation of HPV vaccination remains lower than MenACWY. From 2016 to 2017, 85% of surveyed adolescents age 13-17 had received at least one dose of MenACWY vaccine, but only 66% had received at least one dose of HPV vaccine. And only 49% had completed an HPV vaccine series. For comparison, 89% of these adolescents had received Tdap.

One of the barriers to HPV vaccination is that some parents question the need to vaccinate their preteen against a sexually transmitted virus. Unfortunately, providers have too often responded to this parental concern by not giving a strong recommendation for HPV vaccination, or by introducing the vaccine to parents in an entirely different way than Tdap or MenACWY. Yet all three of these vaccines are recommended at the same age.

Multiple studies show that patients who receive a strong vaccine recommendation from their provider are four to five times more likely to receive the HPV vaccine. Clearly, YOU are the key to HPV-related cancer prevention!

CDC and AAP have developed several new resources to help providers feel confident communicating with parents about HPV vaccination of their preteen.

• CDC's HPV Information for Clinicians: web section offers factsheets and guidance for clinicians, recommendations and schedules, and research-based answers for parents' questions about HPV vaccination.
• CDC's #HowIRecommend HPV Vaccination Video Series features clinicians explaining how they are achieving high HPV vaccination rates and effectively addressing HPV vaccination questions in their practices. These short, informative videos cover a range of topics related to HPV vaccination, including:
  • Making effective recommendations to increase vaccination rates
  • Helping parents understand why HPV vaccine is important for their preteen
  • Addressing parents’ questions about HPV vaccine safety
  • Involving everyone in your practice in HPV vaccination efforts
• The American Academy of Pediatrics offers a free app, HPV Vaccine: Same Way Same Day. This interactive role-play simulation app is designed to enhance providers’ discussions about HPV with parents.

Additional HPV resources

• CDC’s Talking to Parents about HPV Vaccine
• CDC’s Top 10 Tips for HPV Vaccination Success
• CDC’s HPV Educational Materials for Office Staff and Patients
• IAC's HPV Educational Materials for Office Staff, Parents, and Patients. All are CDC-reviewed, ready-to-print, and free (view thumbnail images of each item by hovering over the title)
• IAC’s Ask the Experts: HPV webpage where CDC experts answer your questions
• Vaccine Information Statements for HPV in English with 28 translations
• Vaccine Education Center's Questions and Answers about HPV and the Vaccine