Increasing Flu Vaccination Rates Among Hispanic Populations
09/30/2024
In September 2023, the Health Plan Alliance (HPA) facilitated a partnership between Western Health Advantage (WHA) and the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) to design a culturally tailored initiative aimed at increasing flu vaccination rates among Hispanic members. Funded by Sanofi, this collaboration combined WHA's regional focus and NHMA's expertise in Hispanic health, creating a robust partnership to address a critical public health challenge.
Objective
The campaign aimed to bridge vaccination gaps by targeting Hispanic or Spanish-speaking members who had not yet received their flu vaccine for the 2023-2024 flu season.
Campaign Design
The Flu Nudge Campaign utilized:
- Culturally tailored messaging: Postcards were created in both Spanish and English to ensure inclusivity and cultural resonance.
- Data-driven targeting: WHA’s Quality team employed the Cotiviti Provider Intelligence tool to identify Hispanic members lacking a flu vaccine in 2023.
- Ease of access: Postcards featured QR codes linking to pharmacy locations and emphasized WHA's $0 copay for flu shots to remove financial barriers.
Campaign Execution
- Target identification: Initial reports identified 473 members in October 2023 and 494 in November 2023 who had not received flu vaccines. Removing duplicates, 639 unique members were identified for outreach.
- Outreach: Two postcard mailings were conducted—one in early November and another in late December 2023—encouraging recipients to get vaccinated.
Results
A final analysis conducted in early 2024 revealed:
- Pre-campaign: 639 unique Hispanic members without a flu shot.
- Post-campaign: 414 unique Hispanic members without a flu shot.
- Outcome: 225 Hispanic members received flu shots during the campaign, representing a 35.2% improvement in vaccination rates.
Key Insights
The campaign's success highlighted the impact of culturally relevant communication in driving public health outcomes. The collaborative effort between WHA, NHMA, and HPA underscored the importance of leveraging diverse expertise to achieve meaningful health improvements.
Future Plans
Encouraged by the success of this initiative, WHA plans to expand the campaign for the 2024-2025 flu season by:
- Initiating outreach earlier in the year.
- Increasing the number of mailing cycles to three.
- Introducing text reminders as a complementary outreach method.
Conclusion
The 2023-2024 Flu Nudge Campaign demonstrated how strategic collaboration and culturally tailored approaches can effectively improve health outcomes in underserved communities. This initiative serves as a model for future efforts to address health disparities and promote preventive care.