ABOUT THE PROJECT

NACCHO, with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Division of STD Prevention, initiated a project in October 2018 to support the use of CDC’s Recommendations for Providing Quality STD Clinical Services, published in January 2020. The Recommendations augment CDC’s Sexually Transmitted Infection Treatment Guidelines and are intended to be used as a tool to guide sexually transmitted disease clinical practice standards. This project aims to facilitate implementation of the Recommendations by:

• Developing tools and resources to aid in the assessment of clinical services provided by a healthcare setting and guide decision-making regarding additional service provision to address identified gaps
• Providing technical assistance for the use of the tools and resources

PROJECT RESOURCES

• One-pager: Supporting the Delivery of Quality STD Services: A NACCHO Project to Facilitate Implementation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Recommendations for Providing Quality STD Clinical Services

UPCOMING WEBINAR

NACCHO recently created a STD QCS Planning Toolkit which includes a user guide and assessment tools to help healthcare settings translate the recommendations into practical application.

Please join us for an informational webinar on Thursday, January 7, 2021; 1 pm-2 pm Eastern to learn more about the STD QCS Planning Toolkit developed by NACCHO to support the recommendations.

During the webinar, we will hear introductory comments from CDC’s Division of STD Prevention (DSTDP) medical epidemiologist, Dr. Roxanne Barrow, who supported the development of the recommendations. Rebekah Horowitz, a senior analyst at NACCHO, will share the new tools and demonstrate how they can be used to operationalize the recommendations. A question and answer session will follow with DSTDP and NACCHO.

Healthcare settings can use the tools to critically assess existing STD care service offerings in their facilities and identify opportunities to build, maintain, or enhance the delivery of those services.

Registration is required for this webinar. Please click on below link to register:

ABOUT THE PROJECT

In partnership with CDC’s Division of STD Prevention (DSTDP), NACCHO is supporting a diverse set of local jurisdictions/health departments across the U.S. to implement and evaluate a program strategy to improve congenital syphilis prevention and control efforts in their areas. The objective is to help galvanize local efforts to address rising rates of congenital syphilis and syphilis among pregnant individuals and individuals of child-bearing capacity. Specifically, innovations or improvements focus on one or more of the following areas: of congenital syphilis prevention:

• Improving support for pregnant individuals who have syphilis
• Improving support for pregnant individuals who do not have syphilis
• Improving support for individuals with syphilis who could become pregnant but are not currently pregnant

The project will evaluate feasibility of innovations, barriers and facilitators to successful implementation, and the extent to which the innovation or improvement reached its intended targets and outcomes.

PROJECT RESOURCES

• One-pager: Local Innovations in Congenital Syphilis Prevention

RECENT UPDATES

New Funding Announcement for Congenital Syphilis Intervention and Evaluation

In partnership with the CDC’s Division of STD Prevention, NACCHO will provide up to four local health departments with up to $25,000 each to implement and/or evaluate a program strategy that will improve congenital syphilis in their area. The objective is to help galvanize local efforts to address rising rates of congenital syphilis. Specifically, it will fund the implementation and evaluation of scalable interventions that focus on one or more of the following areas of congenital syphilis prevention:

1. Linkage to prenatal care
2. Syphilis and/or pregnancy screening in non-STD care/clinic settings
3. Telehealth/medicine for individuals with syphilis who are pregnant

If your jurisdiction is already implementing an intervention that falls under one of these areas, it is permissible to apply just for evaluation of the intervention.

Visit NACCHO's website to learn more and apply. The deadline to apply is January 27th, 2020.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

With funding from the CDC’s Division of STD Prevention (DSTDP), NACCHO leads the STI Express Initiative, which is designed to increase the evidence base for express STI clinical visits and support clinics in quality improvement efforts to strengthen, scale-up, and evaluate STI express models. We define STI express services as triage-based STI testing without a full clinical examination. Express services, also known as “fast-tracking,” are often associated with technology and automation and can reduce visit time, decrease time to treatment, and free up provider time; empower use of staffing models that utilize top of license strategies; enable self-collection of swabs; and increase opportunities to implement in diverse settings.

The STI Express Initiative has a number of components, including a Community of Practice with clinics that currently implement or are interested in implementing express STI visits, in-depth assessments with three sites to strengthen operational plans for STI express models, and a Data Collaborative through seven STI clinical sites will evaluate their express models across common variables; data from this project is forthcoming.

PROJECT RESOURCES

Report: Establishment, Scale Up, & Evaluation of Express Services

NACCHO recently engaged Cardea to conduct in-depth assessments of three jurisdictions considering or planning to establish STI express services. NACCHO and Cardea visited Jackson, MS; Providence, RI; and San Francisco, CA to develop a better understanding of the role that STI express services can play in each jurisdiction and to explore clinical operations and resource requirements related to express visits. As a result of the in-depth assessments, Cardea developed a report with recommendations and considerations for each site, and for express models more generally. The executive summary is now available.

To learn more, view the STI Express Initiative issue brief, access conference posters from the STD Prevention 2020 conference regarding satisfaction and characteristics of express vs non-express patients, and check out our recent presentation from the 2020 Ryan White Conference. For questions or support, please contact Samantha Ritter, Director of Maternal, Adolescent, and Child Health, at sritter@naccho.org.

In partnership with CDC’s Division of STD Prevention (DSTDP), NACCHO is supporting three local health departments (LHDs) to strengthen partnerships with substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and other behavioral health (BH) providers and implement screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment for high-risk substance use (HRSU) in STI clinics. The goals of this project are to assess the syndemic of STIs and HRSU and identify models for connecting STI clinic patients to SUD treatment and other BH services. For additional information, contact Kat Kelley, Senior Program Analyst, HIV, STI, & Viral Hepatitis (kkelley@naccho.org).

NACCHO is working with the CDC Division of STD Prevention, the National Coalition of STD Directors, and the Public Health Accreditation Board to develop a national certification program for disease intervention specialists (DIS). The effort aims to strengthen and formalize the role of DIS, expand the recognition of DIS and the profession, ensure adequate training, and improve service provision and health outcomes. Learn more about this project here and by reading the article titled “Strengthening Public Health at Its Core: A Focus on Disease Intervention Specialist” in the Winter 2015 NACCHO Exchange.

During and beyond COVID-19, local health departments (LHDs) continue to work to find solutions so that all people have access to HIV/STI testing. Self-testing is one strategy for individuals who are unable or prefer not to visit traditional testing facilities.

Learn about local health departments implementing non clinic-based self-collected testing for HIV/STIs and access provider- and client-facing resources at our self-testing webpage below.