Effortlessly Boost Your Vaccination Rates with 1 Click

Ensuring your patients show up and get their scheduled, routine vaccinations can be difficult. Many practices are left feeling frustrated and powerless when, despite their best efforts, their patients fail to get life-saving vaccines each year. And with the ever-increasing number of vaccines available—combined with the overlapping schedules each family member may be on—unless they’ve made a special trip for that vaccine, it’s unlikely to be top-of-mind.

One way to improve vaccine adherence that’s been found to be effective is through patient outreach programs that utilize text-based reminders. Findings from a 2020 study with data from the Geisinger Health and Penn Medicine health systems showed that text messages sent before a primary care visit gave a measurable boost to the resulting vaccination rates.

A fantastic result! But also a field experiment involving teams of scientists with dedicated support and funding.

Thankfully, you don’t need the resources of a large health system to be able to implement effective and robust patient outreach. Ensuring vaccine adherence is critical for maintaining public health, which is why VaxCare offers a complimentary, plug-and-play adherence solution for our partners.

In this article, we explore the importance of vaccine adherence, the benefits of patient outreach, the results we’ve seen so far, as well as our own back-to-school and respiratory season compliance programs.

Why is Vaccine Adherence Important?

Despite the recent resurgence of diseases we once thought were eradicated in the U.S., the historical success of vaccination campaigns means the perceived risk of vaccine-preventable diseases remains low. 

And while vaccines remain an incredibly effective tool in combating disease, practical issues such as vaccine product availability, cumbersome appointment systems, and the complexity of vaccination schedules themselves, can easily lead to gaps in populations that would otherwise be protected.

Improving the accessibility and convenience of vaccination services is one of the easiest ways for modern practices to help combat complacency.

Prioritizing vaccine adherence also provides significant public health benefits. Participating practices improve the overall health of their community, enhance patient trust in public health initiatives, maintain protection for vulnerable populations, and ensure that their vaccination programs achieve their full financial potential.

How Effective is Patient Outreach?

Studies indicate that patient outreach programs, particularly those that use text-based reminders, are an effective way to improve vaccine adherence for practices of all sizes. 

Researchers noted that while measuring 19 different text-based messages against a control, every messaging option resulted in additional vaccinations, with their best-performing message increasing adoption by an estimated 11%.

On average, our patient outreach programs have resulted in a >20% improvement in vaccination rates.

Key Takeaways

• Timing: Sending reminders 72 hours and 24 hours before a scheduled appointment significantly improved the likelihood of successful vaccination.
• Availability: Mentioning that the shot is reserved for the patient was the most impactful variable in the script.

These findings make it clear—vaccine adherence programs work and are an effective way to boost vaccination rates and improve public health outcomes.

How Do VaxCare’s Patient Adherence Programs Work?

Complimentary for all of our partners, VaxCare’s adherence programs were designed to boost your practice’s vaccination rates without requiring any additional work—you will have to administer the shots, however!

Currently, we have two patient adherence programs—both of which send text messages reminding the recipient to get vaccinated. Every text will be formatted so that your practice is identified as the sender. VaxCare will handle all of the logistics, but the texts will effectively come from your practice.

Program sends text reminders to your patients (or their parent or guardian if the patient is under 18) reminding them to get their flu shot.	Programs sends text reminders to parents or guardians of school-aged children, reminding them to get the required immunizations for school.

With VaxCare, implementing a vaccine adherence program that utilizes text-based reminders is straightforward and highly beneficial.

Where Do I Sign Up?

If you’re already a VaxCare partner, enrollment is a 1-click process. Free to every practice—signing up automatically qualifies you for both our Vax to School (assuming your practice sees children/adolescents) and our Respiratory Season Outreach programs.

For everyone else, signing up is easy! We’re thrilled you’re passionate about vaccines—we are too! That’s why we’re committed to being a world-class solution for vaccines at the point of care. If you want to learn more, we think the easiest way is to check out our webinar—it has everything you need to make an informed decision. And if you’re already sold, we’d love to talk!

Vaccine adherence is a critical component of public health, and implementing text-based patient outreach programs can significantly improve vaccination rates, ensuring better health outcomes for your patients and improved financial outcomes for your practice. 

By utilizing outreach to combat complacency, and eliminating friction from the process, practices of every size can impact patient adherence. Let’s do it together!

References
[1] (2024, July 17). A Megastudy of Text-Based Nudges Encouraging Patients to Get Vaccinated at an Upcoming Doctor’s Appointment (PNAS). https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2101165118
[2] (2024, July 17). Declines in Routine Adult and Teen Vaccinations Continued in 2021 (Avalere). https://avalere.com/insights/declines-in-routine-adult-and-teen-vaccinations-continued-in-2021

Additional Resources
For more information on vaccine management and healthcare compliance, including best practices, training opportunities, and relevant updates on immunization programs, we recommend:

World Health Organization (WHO): https://www.who.int/immunization/diseases/en/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/
Immunize.org: https://www.immunize.org/