Factors associated with initiation and completion of human papillomavirus vaccine series among young women enrolled in Medicaid.

PURPOSE: To determine age- and race-specific uptake rates of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine among females aged 9-20 years who participated in the Florida Medicaid during the first 2 years after approval by the Food and Drug Administration, and to identify factors associated with HPV vaccine initiation and series completion. METHODS: Medicaid administrative data were used to identify claims for HPV vaccination together with individual, provider, and practice characteristics linked to each vaccination. RESULTS: As of June 2008, 9.4% of females aged 11-18 years had ever received an HPV vaccination, and 1.8% had completed the three-vaccine series. In multivariate analysis, receipt of an HPV vaccination was found to be associated with age and race/ethnicity. In comparison with their white counterparts, black females were approximately half as likely to complete the three-vaccine series after initiation. CONCLUSIONS: The data obtained suggest relatively slow initial uptake and completion of the HPV vaccine series in this population who are at an increased risk for cervical cancer, with racial disparities in vaccine uptake and vaccine series completion.

Expanding the definition of access: it isn't just about health insurance.

Measurement of access to health care services is often limited to such variables as having health insurance or a usual source of care. We argue for an expanded definition of access measuring whether providers accept a particular form of insurance (overall accessibility), ease of contacting providers for appointments (contact accessibility), length of time it takes to get an appointment (appointment accessibility), and proximity of providers to patients (geographic accessibility). Interviewers posing as Medicaid beneficiaries telephoned providers in Florida's Medicaid primary care case management program, to determine whether the provider was accepting new patients, had weekend or evening hours, and how long it would take to get an appointment. Approximately 87% were accepting new patients, but only 68% were accepting new Medicaid patients. The survey also showed that beneficiaries may encounter difficulty in reaching physicians and making appointments: 22% of all calls were not answered on the first attempt and over two-thirds of providers had no weekend or evening hours.