Phreesia has generated evidence that exposing patients to vaccine messages at the point of care boosts the vaccination rate, including among historically marginalized groups.
The company sells software for patient engagement during check-in and appointment communications. The idea is to influence the conversations that patients have with healthcare professionals by providing individuals with information just before their appointments. Phreesia assessed the ability of the model to increase vaccine uptake in a study that ran from March 2020 to May 2024.
Over that time, the company delivered vaccine messages to U.S. patients just before their appointments in various care settings. Phreesia said people who were exposed to the messages received incremental vaccinations at more than double the rate of their peers in the control group, which didn’t see the information.
Around half of the patients said the information in the messages was new to them. Almost two-thirds of the patients said they were likely to discuss vaccines with their doctor. Christina Suh, M.D., director of clinical content at Phreesia, discussed the significance of the research.
“This research shows that accurate, tailored and easy-to-understand reminders go a long way in supporting immunization,” Suh said in a statement. “Reinforcing the safety and efficacy of vaccines right before a patient talks to their doctor helps get shots in arms, protecting against vaccine-preventable diseases and saving lives.”
The study covers a period in which attitudes to vaccines changed as the spread of misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped attitudes. Data collected by the Vaccine Confidence Project show the proportion of Americans who believe vaccines are safe fell from 89% in 2019 to 76% in 2023. Over the same period, the proportion of people who agree vaccines are effective dropped from 92% to 77%.
Those trends have implications for vaccine manufacturers. Discussing the upcoming flu season on an earnings call in July, Thomas Triomphe, executive vice president of vaccines at Sanofi, said “the vaccination rate is probably on the soft side of things.” Finding ways to increase uptake could boost sales in mature markets such as flu and emerging opportunities including respiratory syncytial virus.