Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Early Access
    • Multimedia
    • Podcast
    • Collections
    • Past Issues
    • Articles by Subject
    • Articles by Type
    • Supplements
    • Plain Language Summaries
    • Calls for Papers
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Job Seekers
    • Media
  • About
    • Annals of Family Medicine
    • Editorial Staff & Boards
    • Sponsoring Organizations
    • Copyrights & Permissions
    • Announcements
  • Engage
    • Engage
    • e-Letters (Comments)
    • Subscribe
    • Podcast
    • E-mail Alerts
    • Journal Club
    • RSS
    • Annals Forum (Archive)
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
  • Careers

User menu

  • My alerts

Search

  • Advanced search
Annals of Family Medicine
  • My alerts
Annals of Family Medicine

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Early Access
    • Multimedia
    • Podcast
    • Collections
    • Past Issues
    • Articles by Subject
    • Articles by Type
    • Supplements
    • Plain Language Summaries
    • Calls for Papers
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Job Seekers
    • Media
  • About
    • Annals of Family Medicine
    • Editorial Staff & Boards
    • Sponsoring Organizations
    • Copyrights & Permissions
    • Announcements
  • Engage
    • Engage
    • e-Letters (Comments)
    • Subscribe
    • Podcast
    • E-mail Alerts
    • Journal Club
    • RSS
    • Annals Forum (Archive)
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • Follow annalsfm on Twitter
  • Visit annalsfm on Facebook
Meeting ReportScreening, prevention, and health promotion

Practice facilitation for family physicians to contact patients unvaccinated for COVID-19: a randomized trial

Jennifer Shuldiner, Aisha Lofters, Noor-Ul-Huda Shah, Tara Kiran, Stacey Bar-Ziv, Isaac Bogoch, Justin Presseau, Dominik Nowak and Noah Ivers
The Annals of Family Medicine November 2023, 21 (Supplement 3) 5454; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.22.s1.5454
Jennifer Shuldiner
PhD
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Aisha Lofters
MD
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Noor-Ul-Huda Shah
MSc
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Tara Kiran
MD, MSc, CCFP, FCFP
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Stacey Bar-Ziv
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Isaac Bogoch
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Justin Presseau
PhD
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Dominik Nowak
MD, MHSc, CCFP CHE
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Noah Ivers
MD, PhD, CCFP
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Context: Family physicians have an important role to play in encouraging vaccine confidence among their patients. We evaluated a practice facilitation intervention in partnership with Ontario Health, a provincial government agency, to support family physicians in Ontario with proactive outreach among patients unvaccinated for COVID-19.

Objective: To determine whether a multicomponent practice facilitation intervention would increase vaccine rates among patients of family physicians with the largest number of unvaccinated patients.

Study Design and Analysis: A 1:1 two-arm, pragmatic, cluster randomized controlled trial (Clinical trial#: NCT05099497).

Setting or Dataset: The trial was conducted from November 2021-March 2022 in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province. Data were obtained from the provincial vaccine registry and were linked to routinely used administrative databases.

Population Studied: 600 family physicians with the largest number of unvaccinated patients in the province.

Intervention/Instrument: Practice facilitators offered physicians support to identify, reach out, and counsel their unvaccinated patients.

Outcome Measures: Any vaccine dose during a four-month follow-up interval among rostered patients over 12 years/100.

Results: 300 family physicians who cared for a median of 2,399 patients (IQR 2,024-2,747) were randomized to control; the 300 randomized to the intervention cared for a median of 2,394 patients (IQR: 1,907-2,829). Only 29% (n=90) of intervention physicians accepted assistance from a practice facilitator. Among those that received support, 58% (n=51) used technical support to identify unvaccinated patients in their EMRs, 29% (n=26) connected with medical student volunteers to contact patients on their behalf, and 31% (n=27) used automated calling to reach patients.

The proportion of adult patients of control physicians with COVID vaccine doses was 82 (IQR: 78-85) at baseline and 83 (IQR: 80-86) after four months. In the intervention group, the proportion of patients with a COVID vaccine dose was 81 (IQR: 76-85) at baseline and 83 (IQR: 79-86) after four months. The relative rate of vaccine uptake of any dose was non-significant (RR= 1.0, CI:0.97-1.02, p=0.824).

Conclusion: There was no detectable increase in vaccination uptake among patients who were rostered to family physicians in the intervention group. Low intervention fidelity is a possible explanation for the trial’s null’s results.

  • © 2023 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.
Previous
Back to top

In this issue

The Annals of Family Medicine: 21 (Supplement 3)
The Annals of Family Medicine: 21 (Supplement 3)
Vol. 21, Issue Supplement 3
1 Nov 2023
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Annals of Family Medicine.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Practice facilitation for family physicians to contact patients unvaccinated for COVID-19: a randomized trial
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Annals of Family Medicine
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Annals of Family Medicine web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
6 + 8 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.
Citation Tools
Practice facilitation for family physicians to contact patients unvaccinated for COVID-19: a randomized trial
Jennifer Shuldiner, Aisha Lofters, Noor-Ul-Huda Shah, Tara Kiran, Stacey Bar-Ziv, Isaac Bogoch, Justin Presseau, Dominik Nowak, Noah Ivers
The Annals of Family Medicine Nov 2023, 21 (Supplement 3) 5454; DOI: 10.1370/afm.22.s1.5454

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Get Permissions
Share
Practice facilitation for family physicians to contact patients unvaccinated for COVID-19: a randomized trial
Jennifer Shuldiner, Aisha Lofters, Noor-Ul-Huda Shah, Tara Kiran, Stacey Bar-Ziv, Isaac Bogoch, Justin Presseau, Dominik Nowak, Noah Ivers
The Annals of Family Medicine Nov 2023, 21 (Supplement 3) 5454; DOI: 10.1370/afm.22.s1.5454
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Cervical Cancer Screening Differences Between Black and White Women: An Examination of HPV and Pap Test Utilization.
  • Understanding the Relationship Between Social Needs and Cervical Cancer Screening
  • Accelerated biological aging leads to the trajectory of cardiometabolic multimorbidity to dementia and mortality
Show more Screening, prevention, and health promotion

Similar Articles

Content

  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Early Access
  • Plain-Language Summaries
  • Multimedia
  • Podcast
  • Articles by Type
  • Articles by Subject
  • Supplements
  • Calls for Papers

Info for

  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • Job Seekers
  • Media

Engage

  • E-mail Alerts
  • e-Letters (Comments)
  • RSS
  • Journal Club
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Subscribe
  • Family Medicine Careers

About

  • About Us
  • Editorial Board & Staff
  • Sponsoring Organizations
  • Copyrights & Permissions
  • Contact Us
  • eLetter/Comments Policy

© 2025 Annals of Family Medicine