How docs can keep misinformation from fueling vaccine hesitancy

Medical misinformation imperils this year's vaccine push 

Healthcare professionals have had to contend with medical misinformation for years, but both Hackell and Gersch indicated that things feel different nowadays. 

"One of the biggest challenges that we face -- and it's becoming more and more of a challenge every year -- is that in our current era of social media, it's very easy for people to get information," Gersch said. "And while getting information sounds like a good thing, it depends on the quality and accuracy of that information. A lot of people have access to poor information and that can make things very challenging." 

Healthcare experts across the nation are lamenting this trend. Earlier this year, a Physicians Foundation survey showed that medical mis- and disinformation is worse than it's ever been before, with 86% saying there's more inaccurate medical information out there than five years ago. Another 61% said their patients were swayed by medical misinformation at least somewhat within the past year. 

This isn't your garden-variety medical misinformation, either, both Gersh and Hackell suggested. 

Rather than combatting falsehoods peddled on social media and by word of mouth, medical professionals are combatting disinformation spread by federal entities, such as the Department of Health and Human Services, they said. 

"What's different now is the platform that this misinformation -- and even disinformation, which is willful spreading of incorrect information to somebody who doesn't know better from somebody who does know better or should know better -- the platform is much more prominent," Hackell said. "It's RFK Jr. Such as it is, it's the ACIP." 

Medical advice from HHS and CDC ahead of this respiratory virus season has been tricky to follow, with the agencies issuing recommendations that are a departure from their former stances and the stances of their colleagues, Hackell indicated. That is in part due to recent personnel changes, especially at CDC. 

According to Gersh, that can create mixed messages for patients and their caregivers who are trying to determine the vaccines they will access. 

"When a federal agency that is supposed to be trusted for giving good, evidence-based recommendations is suddenly giving information that seems counter to what has been said for many years, it does cause a lot of confusion for people," Gersch echoed. "And I think overall it becomes harmful to the desire that we try and make people healthy."  

When patients can't trust federal healthcare guidelines, it's incumbent upon healthcare organizations to fill in the gap. 

Docs can leverage patient relationships to garner trust 

The good news is doctors have the attention of their patients. In an April 2025 Edelman survey, 82% of patients agreed that their doctor is the most trustworthy to tell them the truth about their healthcare. 

"With the current administration and some of the issues that they're putting out, it can be very challenging for patients and individuals to know what the correct path is," Gersch pointed out. "What people need is a trusted voice, someone like a family physician or someone who they've gone to for a long time for their healthcare, to help give them that evidence-based, up-to-date information about what the right thing to do is." 

It can be easy to become discouraged as a provider practicing in the age of medical misinformation, Hackell added. 

"It may sound like we're being drowned out, but over and over, when parents are asked, they say they trust their pediatrician more than they trust anybody else," he stated. "We need to keep that in mind because otherwise it can seem like an unwinnable battle." 

But the survey also revealed that patients need to hear from someone who can connect with them on a human level, meaning doctors need to use their interpersonal skills to navigate these conversations to build patient trust. 

That makes sense, Hackell noted, considering most patients and caregivers are having an emotional response -- fear -- to what they perceive as the risks of getting vaccinated. Fear isn't always rational, so it can be challenging to combat fear with reason and facts. 

"Providers need to know that facts aren't the easiest way to win this discussion and convince a parent," Hackell remarked. "I mean, when you get told that a vaccine can make your child develop autism, that's an emotional response." 

Hackell uses his interpersonal skills to connect with parents on a deeper level. By sharing his own emotional responses to vaccines, plus the fact that he and his kids and grandkids are all vaccinated, he can address the fear at the core of a parent's hesitancy. 

"Your kids are just as precious as mine," he said, outlining how he talks with patients and families. "I wouldn't do anything for my children that I wouldn't do for yours, and I wouldn't do anything for yours that I wouldn't do for my children." 

Gersch, who as a family physician treats patients across their lifetimes, communicates with parents as well as folks hesitant to get their vaccines for themselves. Approaching vaccine-hesitancy with empathy and curiosity has helped him have fruitful conversations with patients. 

"I always try and start out with a 'why' question, and I try and make the question nonjudgmental," Gersch explained. "I'll say something like, 'help me understand why you don't want to vaccinate. Help me understand what your thought process is that you don't want to vaccinate.'" 

This helps him find out exactly where patients' concerns are so he can tailor his response and refer them to the appropriate information to help alleviate their fears. After all, not every patient expressing hesitation is coming from the same place. 

"The one thing I don't want to do is I don't want to berate them because I want them to keep coming back for me for other care," Gersch added. 

Not every patient is going to change their mind. For Gersch, it is more important to maintain a healthy patient-provider relationship, even when conversations about vaccine hesitancy don't go his way. 

Fighting medical misinformation with better sources 

In an age where many people want to do their own research into their health and wellbeing, a list of vetted sources might be exactly what the doctor ordered. 

Per the Edelman survey, patients increasingly think they can know as much as their providers if they do enough research. 

That fact might point to a larger trust and messaging problem, but for the time being, clinicians must meet the moment and push patients toward reputable healthcare sources. 

In his own practice, Gersch refers patients to outside resources to let them do their own research if they'd like to. This allows patients a sense of autonomy as they learn more about their health, but the sources come with Gersch's seal of approval, so he knows patients are getting facts. 

Some of his favorites are FamilyDoctor.org, the AAFP's site and a resource from the Mayo Clinic. As a Minnesota-based provider, Gersch knows the Mayo Clinic's name carries a lot of weight with patient populations. He recommends family providers identify some of the larger, trusted healthcare institutions near them to replicate that strategy. 

"This is the organization that I have trust in. This is the organization that I feel will give me the correct and best information so that I can do then what's best for you," he said he tells his patients. "And usually if I word it in some manner that way, then that transfers that trust over to those organizations as well." 

And although empathy and a human touch is key to combatting vaccine hesitancy, healthcare providers can and should outline facts about vaccines with consideration for health literacy. 

Hackell stressed the importance of explaining how adverse reactions are reported using the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). 

"Patients need to know that when a sign of an adverse reaction becomes known, it gets investigated," Hackell stated, referencing some misinformation campaigns about VAERS. "And if appropriate, the vaccine is pulled from the schedule." 

That actually happened a number of years ago with the rotavirus vaccine, he said. When kids developed an intestinal condition called intussusception, the industry pulled the vaccine. 

"It's not like we don't follow these and make sure that they are turning out as safe as we think they were going to be based on the pre-marketing data," Hackell said. "And so, patients need to know that this is ongoing and being done, and we don't just send a product out there and say, 'good luck.'" 

Addressing vaccine hesitancy, especially this year when patients are navigating conflicting vaccine recommendations, might feel like a daunting task for providers. However, it can help to use the following patient-provider communication strategies: 

• Lead with non-judgmental questions. Asking why a patient is worried about getting a vaccine or vaccinating their child will help uncover the next steps for combatting hesitancy. 

• Be empathetic to patient concerns. Telling patients that you understand their fears will help build trust and make a patient more receptive to your messaging. 

• Provide patients with vetted sources to do their own research. This can help promote patient autonomy and ownership of their vaccination decisions. 

• Connect on a human level. Telling patients that you and your loved ones have gotten vaccines will provide the human experience many patients crave in a healthcare interaction. 

"It's very important that we understand these people want to do what's best for their child and what's best for themselves," Gersch concluded. "There's just been so much misinformation out there that they're confused. I want to find out where they are in that spectrum, what specifically is their take on vaccines, so that I can help them hopefully get over that fear and past the confusion so that they are willing to move forward." 

Sara Heath has reported news related to patient engagement and health equity since 2015.