Pediatric care changes increase adolescent sexually transmitted infection screening

Pediatricians and medical staff at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) increased screening rates for chlamydia and gonorrhea among adolescents in the United States.

The team implemented a systematic quality improvement initiative across 33 primary care practices within the CHOP Care Network. This project aimed to make screening a routine part of well visits for young people, who often have higher infection rates than other age groups. The staff redesigned their clinical workflows by introducing the Adolescent Health Questionnaire.

This tool helps identify health topics and helps providers determine which patients need specific care. The team also integrated electronic health record alerts, prepopulated order sets, and financial incentives for doctors to encourage consistent screening. The initiative shifted toward a universal opt-out screening model. Under this system, all eligible adolescents receive tests unless they specifically decline them. This change led to a substantial rise in the detection of infections, which often go unnoticed because they do not produce symptoms.

The study showed that these changes worked across different insurance types and racial and ethnic groups. Researchers suggest that this model of care can be adapted by other primary care practices to help identify and treat infections earlier.