title: Completing the circle: follow-up screening of STD patients in three clinics of the United States Indian Health Service.
abstract: We reviewed charts of newly diagnosed STD patients in three health facilities to determine the proportion who received follow-up STD screening. In a 12-month period, the three facilities had 140 STD cases. STD screening was not indicated for 50 (36%) patients. Among the 90 remaining STD patients, 29 (32%) were screened and 61 (68%) not screened. Among non-screened patients, 36% (22/61) were tested, but outside the time parameters allowed by the audit. The remaining 64% (39/61) received no screening at all, and represented clinical missed opportunities; in this group, nearly all (95%) had chlamydia but were not screened for HIV or syphilis. Linking chlamydia patients with a screen for HIV and syphilis using a clinical reminder in the facilities' electronic health record (EHR) or other tool, would eliminate 95% of the missed opportunities in this sample.
authors.affiliation: Indian Health Service, Albuquerque, NM, USA. Brigg.Reilley@ihs.gov
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Reilley
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Redd
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giberson
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sunde
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cullen
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States; D016549:United States Indian Health Service