Oral

Expedited partner services (EPS) are a group of healthcare delivery options wherein aspects of health care that usually occur in the clinical setting are instead outsourced to patients themselves. Such services include partner notification, partner delivery of medications--often referred to as patient-delivered partner treatment (PDPT) or expedited partner treatment (EPT)--and partner delivery of screening kits. These services promise to increase identification and treatment of individuals with or at risk for STI infection, have been shown to be effective, and are supported by national organizations. Yet understanding and implementation remain a challenge, with clinics and other health care providers struggling to implement them in different settings throughout the United States. This session will include an overview of recent research on expedited partner services for sexually transmitted infections, including patient-delivered partner treatment and patient-delivered partner screening. Moreover, freely available resources for supporting healthcare provider adoption and implementation as well as patient and partner service utilization will be discussed: tools you can use! Overall, the session addresses an important area of public health interest that should be of broad interest to a wide range of APHA participants, from policymakers to clinic management, health care providers to health educators. If you are considering, are actually implementing, have ever wondered about, or haven't even heard of expedited partner services, this session will be of interest.

Session Objectives: Define Expedited Partner Services and its related practices including PDPT/EPT Recognize that EPS, especially EPT, adoption is becoming widespread and consider challenges to effective implementation Describe tools and resources freely available to support implementation, including educational materials and a web-based portal with animated segments. Discuss factors influencing the adoption of other EPS services, including patient-delivered partner screening

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)