Vaccinations are one of the most effective ways to prevent disease. Despite evidence that routine vaccines for adults improve patient outcomes and decrease health care costs by averting serious disease and hospitalization, many adults do not receive the recommended vaccinations. As the nation emerges from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency, there is an opportunity to replicate and adapt approaches that succeeded during the pandemic to improve rates for other recommended immunizations.
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) convened a multistakeholder roundtable to identify and recommend strategies for improving adult immunization rates. Panelists—many on the front lines of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout— discussed ways to leverage lessons learned during the pandemic to increase uptake of recommended immunizations for adults. Improving Adult Vaccine Rates: Incorporating Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic summarizes the roundtable discussion. Key recommendations include:
- Improve patient and provider dialogue about vaccination by educating, translating guidelines for implementation and building trust.
- Expand access to vaccinations by increasing Medicaid reimbursement, implementing standing orders and building on community-based relationships established during COVID-19.
- Enhance data integration by increasing the usability of immunization information systems (IIS) for providers and patients and mandating reporting to IIS for adult vaccinations.
- Adopt the Adult Immunization Status measure in reporting programs to encourage data exchange and greater implementation of vaccine recommendations into clinical practice.
Sponsorship Support
The Adult Immunization roundtable and resulting white paper were supported by Pfizer. This document is owned and copyrighted by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). It was produced independently by NCQA. NCQA does not endorse any Pfizer products or services.
