Opportunistic Chlamydia and Gonorrhea Screening: Utilizing an Electronic Health Record Prompt in Women 18-24 Years Old

Chlamydia and gonorrhea are the most common sexually transmitted infections that continue to rise in incidence and prevalence in the United States. Although there are effective, low-cost, and safe treatments for both of these infections, many cases go undetected due to a lack of screening. These infections greatly impact women as they have disproportionately higher rates of infection, face reproductive consequences of infection, and pay more in medical treatment for these infections. This project aims to increase screening rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea in women 18 to 24 years old by offering screening at every patient encounter in accordance with national screening guidelines. This quality improvement project was implemented in the women’s clinic of a federally qualified health center in the Southwestern United States across six sites. The project intervention included updating a healthcare provider template utilized with every reproductive health-aged visit in the women’s clinic to include offering chlamydia and gonorrhea screening to all patients who met national screening guidelines, excluding prenatal visits. Data collected included the chlamydia and gonorrhea screening rate six months pre- and post-template change, positivity rate, and demographic variables. Frequencies were used for statistical analysis along with demographic variables. There was an overall increase in screening rates post-template change of about 11.0% in the six months after the change. Electronic health record prompts can promote screening and evidence-based practice among providers.