Encourage Routine Vaccines and Well-Care Visits for Children and Adolescents 

July 15, 2026

Yearly preventive care visits for exams and scheduled immunizations can help close potential care gaps for children and adolescents. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourages health care providers to remind families about scheduling routine vaccines and visits. 

We track the following Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) measures developed by the National Committee for Quality Assurance for children and adolescents:

Immunizations for Adolescents measures the percentage of 13-year-olds who received the following vaccines by their 13th birthday:

  • One dose of meningococcal vaccine
  • One tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis
  • The complete human papillomavirus vaccine series

Child and Adolescent Well-Care Visits measures the percentage of members ages 3 to 21 who received at least one well-care visit with a primary care provider or OB-GYN during the measurement year.

Tips to consider

  • Identify members who are overdue for vaccines or well-care visits and reach out to caregivers to schedule appointments.
  • Note that telehealth visits don’t meet the requirements for these measures.
  • Assess immunization status at each visit and identify any gaps. Address common misconceptions about vaccines.
  • Remind our members of the importance of receiving an annual flu shot because new strains of the virus appear each year. The CDC recommends that most people 6 months and older receive a flu vaccine every year.
  • When documenting well-care visits, ensure that the visit was with a PCP and include the following in the medical record:
    • Date of visit
    • Health history
    • Developmental history (physical and mental)
    • Physical exam
    • Height, weight and body mass index percentile
    • Health education or anticipatory guidance, including physical activity, diet and nutrition
  • We collect immunization data through claims and chart review. To document immunizations, you may include in the medical record any of the following:
    • Certificates of immunizations or immunization flowsheet
    • Diagnostic reports
    • Subjective, objective, assessment and plan (SOAP) notes
    • Office, progress or well-visit notes
    • Encounter form
    • Records from a previous primary care provider

The record should include each immunization given and the date it was administered. Documentation stating, “all immunizations are up-to-date" doesn’t meet the requirements of this measure.

Resources: Refer to our Quality Care 2026 booklet on HEDIS measures for information on documentation and coding for these measures. You can access it in Availity® Essentials within our Payer Spaces in the resources section.  Other resources include:

The above material is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for the independent medical judgment of a physician or other health care provider. Physicians and other health care providers are encouraged to use their own medical judgment based upon all available information and the condition of the patient in determining the appropriate course of treatment. The fact that a service or treatment is described in this material is not a guarantee that the service or treatment is a covered benefit and members should refer to their certificate of coverage for more details, including benefits, limitations and exclusions. Regardless of benefits, the final decision about any service or treatment is between the member and their health care provider.

Availity is a trademark of Availity, LLC, a separate company that operates a health information network to provide electronic information exchange services to medical professionals. Availity provides administrative services to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico. BCBSNM makes no endorsement, representations or warranties regarding third party vendors and the products and services they offer. 

HEDIS is a registered trademark of NCQA.