Increasing Chlamydia Screening in the High-Risk Population using Electronic Notification and Targeted Education: A Primary Care Approach

The primary care office is an ideal setting and the front gate for screening young adults for chlamydia infection. Chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the US and sexually active women aged 24 and younger are at the highest risk for having it (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2016). Screening is simple and effective and can be completed through a urine test. Treatment is straightforward and involves a one-time dose of antibiotic medicine. Untreated infections in women can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), chronic pelvic pain, infertility, and life-threatening ectopic pregnancies (Papp, Schachter, Gaydos, & Pol, 2014). Despite the simplicity of managing this specific sexually transmitted infections, screening occurs in only about half of these women (CDC, 2013). The advent of the electronic medical record (EMR) has helped to improve healthcare, for example medication errors have drastically improved (The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, (ONC), 2019). For my DNP project, I leveraged the technologic potential of the EMR’s in order to improve chlamydia screening. This technology stands to identify more infections and earlier, facilitate prompt treatment with a simple and cheap medication, improve the quality of lives of US citizens, and preserve precious healthcare resources by reducing the incidence of chronic conditions