Pilot reports high vaccination uptake in adults with inflammatory bowel disease

Patient satisfaction averaged 8.6 out of 10, and healthcare providers reported that the collaborative pathway was feasible and appreciated. Immunocompromised patients are vulnerable to infection, and current guidelines advise them to receive additional vaccinations against pneumococcal disease, herpes zoster and human papillomavirus. The researchers identified logistical barriers and limited vaccination facilities as contributors to low uptake.

They therefore studied a care pathway designed to facilitate access to medically indicated vaccines through cooperation between hospitals and municipal public health services. The study used a convergent mixed-methods design and included adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease recruited from two hospitals. Vaccination uptake and the quality of consultations were assessed using a predefined scoring checklist.

Patients and healthcare professionals also completed questionnaires, while healthcare providers took part in semi-structured interviews. The quantitative measures included vaccine administration and satisfaction among patients, municipal public health service providers and gastroenterologists; the interviews examined collaboration, implementation challenges and requirements for maintaining the pathway. The pilot produced high uptake across the recommended vaccinations and strong satisfaction among the participating patients.

Provider interviews also indicated that the collaborative pathway was feasible and appreciated, with satisfaction improving among both municipal public health service personnel and gastroenterologists during the pilot. Operational difficulties nevertheless emerged: responsibilities were not always clear, staff faced time constraints and referral quality was variable. Gastroenterologists also expressed concern about whether vaccination expertise could be maintained within municipal public health services over the long term.

The authors identified effective communication, adequate human resources and supportive organizational structures as requirements for sustainable collaboration. The study supports the feasibility and acceptability of the pathway under the conditions tested, but its scope remains limited. It enrolled 100 patients from two hospitals, focused on adults with inflammatory bowel disease and assessed a pilot rather than long-term routine operation.

The results therefore do not show how the pathway would perform among immunocompromised patients with other conditions, in larger or differently organized health systems, or over an extended period. The central finding is that a hospital–municipal public health vaccination pathway achieved near-complete delivery of recommended doses in this small cohort, while revealing organizational demands that would need to be addressed for durable implementation.

Subject of Research: Evaluation of a collaborative vaccination pathway for immunocompromised adults with inflammatory bowel disease

Article Title: Implementing a public health – hospital care pathway to facilitate vaccination uptake in immunocompromised patients: a regional mixed-methods pilot study

Article References: Linde, E. T., Meurs, B., van Schaik, F. D. M., Peters, C. P., Raat, A.-M. C., & Bruns, A. H. W. (2026). Implementing a public health – hospital care pathway to facilitate vaccination uptake in immunocompromised patients: a regional mixed-methods pilot study. BMC Health Services Research. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-026-15527-6

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12913-026-15527-6

Keywords: vaccination uptake, immunocompromised patients, inflammatory bowel disease, mixed-methods study, public health services, care pathways, pneumococcal vaccination, herpes zoster vaccination, HPV vaccination, healthcare collaboration, Implementing, public