December 2016
STD Q u I ps!
Updates from the National STD Quality Improvement Center
Adolescent Sexual Health Quality Improvement QI Fellowship:  
Welcome Fellows! 
The Adolescent Sexual Health Quality Improvement Fellowship    

As you may have read in last month's newsletter, the National QI Center in partnership with Population Health Improvement Partners has recently been funded for a new program that brings together QI and subject matter experts to train a cohort of fellows around adolescent sexual health QI.  

 

We completed the application process for our first cohort, and we are exited to announce the 2016-2017 fellow teams!

 
California Team
Lindsey Clopp   
California Prevention Training Center/California Department of Public Health STD Control Branch

Deborah Dauda  
California Department of Public Health STD Control Branch
Louisiana Team

Ty-Runet Bryant
Louisiana Department of Health Office of Public Health  
STD/HIV Program
 
Ashley Larche 
Louisiana Department of Health Office of Public Health  
STD/HIV Program
New Mexico Team

Kristin Oreskovich 
New Mexico Department of Health
School Based Health Center Program  

Carlos Romero 
Apex Education, Inc.  
New York Team

Alison Muse 
 Bureau of STD Prevention and Epidemiology, AIDS Institute
New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH)

Gowri Nagendra 
New York Prevention Training Center
The Spotlight: Improving Clinic Efficiency at Chicago Department of Public Health Englewood STI Specialty Clinic
We partnered with the Chicago Department of Public Health Englewood STI Specialty Clinic to conduct an on-site event in their STD clinic. 

Patients were consistently experiencing total visit times of 2-3 hours with significant wait times. We identified multiple areas for improvement that are now being sustained in the clinic. Here are just a few of the improvements tested:
 
Combining Triage and Registration 
  • The QI Team found that patients excessively bounced back and forth between the waiting room and the visit steps.
  • The team developed and piloted a registration form that would allow registration to triage the patient based on their reason for visit and register them in the EMR system at the same time, as opposed to having these two steps separated in the process.
  • The clinic is now testing the form and rolling it out at multiple sites.
Signage and Video for Patients 
  • The physical layout of the clinic made it difficult for patients to easily understand how to get registered and triaged.
  • While on-site the QI team tested if moving the signs make the visit process easier for patients to follow.
  • As a result of the QI team's work, the clinic leadership designed and ordered new signage to clarify the visit process.
  • They also created a new educational video that will play in the waiting room and explain to patients what they can expect during their visit.
Automated Phone Bank
  • The QI team realized that the STI clinic's phone number was listed on the website as the general phone number for the building, which houses multiple other clinics. As a result administration is working on getting an automated phone bank so STI clerks don't have to field so many calls in a day.
Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Screening Tool
  • The QI team also identified the need to screen patients who should receive Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) counseling to improve the thoroughness and quality of their visit. As such, the team has developed a PrEP screening tool.
Up Next...
We are currently in the planning stages of the next on-sites!

TBD- Rhode Island Dept of Health and Sylvie Ratelle PTC
 

From all of us at the NQIC! 
Lindsey Clopp, MSPH, Coordinator
Ina Park, MD, MS, NQIC Co-Director
Holly Howard, MPH, NQIC Co-Director
Alice Gandelman. MPH, CAPTC Director
Stay Connected
300 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland, CA