Access to routine chlamydia screening in Community Health Centers

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) guidelines state that all sexually active adolescent girls and women aged 25 years or younger should be screened for Chlamydia annually. The data consistently show that rates of routine Chlamydia screening for women are sub-optimal across the nation. Community health centers (CHCs) provide health services to millions of low-income and minority women of reproductive age, yet because of the lack of data, little is known about the access to care and treatment in CHCs for underlying reproductive health conditions that lead to infertility, such as untreated Chlamydia.

Data from the 2011 George Washington University Family Planning and Reproductive Health Services Project Survey and targeted case study interviews provide basic information about barriers/challenges that exist at the provider-level to providing access to routine Chlamydia screening to women. According to the survey results the majority of CHCs reported they routinely screen for Chlamydia “always” or “most of the time”. Several health centers reported that barriers exist to routine Chlamydia screening and the most common barrier reported was financial resources. The case study interviews conducted with eight CHC sites revealed additional organizational barriers as well as strategies and models of care that might work to improve screening. CHCs' variation by geography, location type, funding source, organization/structure, and service delivery affects access to Chlamydia screening. These results provide insight into the organizational practice/policy levels that can be improved for CHCs to increase access to care for Chlamydia screening for the most vulnerable population of young women.