North Carolina Business Coalition on Health

Why Should I have a Wellness Visit?

The following is reprinted with gracious permission by Merck...

312Change [%]Week ending date [2021]Under 1 yearBetween 1 and 4 yearsBetween 11 and 12 yearsBetween 5 and 10 yearsOver 65 yearsBetween 18 and 64 yearsBetween 13 and 17 yearsWHAT ACTION(S) CAN YOU TAKE?RAISE AWARENESS by incorporating digital and mainstream media campaigns as part of outreach programs11,12IDENTIFY APPROPRIATE PATIENTS and utilize outreach programs through reminder recall to ENCOURAGE SCHEDULING of recommended vaccination appointments6,7,13Ensure that providers use EVERY OPPORTUNITY to vaccinate and educate, along with consider ALTERNATE VACCINATION opportunities, such as curbside clinics or “drive-through” appointments6,7Concerted eort is critical to recover and improve vaccination rates that have declined since the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic. For example, a claims-based analysis examined vaccine uptake among adolescents aged 9-18 years old enrolled in Medicaid Managed Care and found a 26% decline in claims for recommended vaccinations when comparing March–October 2019 to the same period in 2020.5-8As observed in the graph below, the cumulative adolescent wellness visit trends are not returning closer to historical average in mid-2021 as compared to the other age cohorts. Summertime is a peak time period for adolescents to complete wellness visits where preventive services, like the administration of recommended vaccinations, may occur before or at the start of the school year.2,3,9,10aThe total number of wellness visit claims records captured by Optum’s de-identied Clinformatics® Data Mart Database from 2017-2019 was 20,711,248.2 bThe total number of wellness visit claims records captured by HealthVerity COVID-19 Surveillance and Utilization Syndicated Weekly Oering from 2020 through August 8, 2021 was 13,537,033 and 8,984,000+ respectively.2THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW AND WITH URGENCYNumerous reports have documented a marked drop in vaccination and other preventive services during the pandemic, leaving children and adolescents at risk for vaccine-preventable diseases.1-52021 US wellness visit cumulative change against 2017-2019 three year average for the same time period2,a,bActions that may be taken NOW to increase awareness and uptake of recommended vaccinations3,7,9:
Well visit indexWeek ending date (2020-2021)Well visits trend, 2020-2021Historical well visits mean, 2017-2019