Community Pharmacies Project Successful in Increasing Adult Vaccinations

A demonstration project among regional supermarket chain pharmacies in western Pennsylvania resulted in a 33% increase in the number of adult vaccinations overall.

The project included 99 pharmacies, which implemented various tactics in order to engage adult customers who were eligible toreceive influenza, pertussis, pneumococcal, and/or herpes zoster vaccinesusing new notification and motivational interviewing processes.

Strategies employed by the chain pharmacies included printing a vaccine message on prescription receipts or on stationery attached to prescription bags and locating prospective adult vaccination patients through commercially-available software. Pharmacists used patient contact information to incite discussion about the importance of getting vaccinated in both phone and face-to-face conversations. The project then developed an interface to the state-wide vaccination registry In order to send vaccination information from all pharmacy locations in the region.

The prospective, observational project reported an overall 33% increase of adult vaccinations, and 3 of the 4 vaccine types saw increases: 45% for influenza; 31% for pertussis, and 7% for pneumococcal. Herpes zoster experienced a 5% decrease. All administered vaccines were transmitted to the registry.

“A combination of face-to-face and telephonic interventions with motivational interviewing were successful at increasing adult vaccinations in a regional chain pharmacy. Equal and sustained prioritization for all vaccines is necessary to achieve increases across all vaccine types,” the study authors concluded.

References:

Coley KC, Gessler C, McGivney M, et al. Increasing adult vaccinations at a regional supermarket chain pharmacy: A multi-site demonstration project. Vaccine. 2020; doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.02.040.