Clinic Tools and Resources

• Tools & Resources for Serving Adolescent Patients
• Resources for Serving LGBT Patients
• General Resources

• GYT Provider Web Site
  The GYT Web site now offers resources for providers to help them better serve their teen and young adult patients. The site addresses young people's common STD-related misconceptions and offers simple answers to patients' questions. The Web site also features quick STD reference guides and charts (e.g., STD basics, who should be tested for what, treatment guidelines), resources for talking to patients about sexual history and STD testing, training resources, and GYT materials for their clinics.

• Preteen and Teen Vaccine Information For Health Care Professionals/Providers
  Several CDC-developed resources that can assist doctors, nurses, and other health professionals in speaking with patients and their parents about adolescent vaccines.

• Why Screen for Chlamydia? An Implementation Guide for Healthcare Providers
  Provides healthcare providers who care for adolescents and young adults with information that they can use to improve delivery of Chlamydia screening to their patients. This guide was designed as a brief resource to help providers become aware of the latest information about Chlamydia screening and treatment, and ways to integrate this care into medical practice.
  

• 
  
  • Teen-Friendly Office Tips
    These office practices and suggestions can be adapted to any outpatient medical setting. Choose the ones that work in your office.
  • Consent and Confidentiality of Services for Adolescents
    Find helpful information on dealing with consent and confidentiality issues of adolescents in the medical setting.

• Minors’ Access to STI Services
  All state laws allow minors to consent to their own STD testing, but some states require teens to be a certain age, such as 12 or 14, to consent to these services without their parents’ permission. Other states allow (but do not require) healthcare providers to tell parents about these services. Use the above link from the Guttmacher Institute to learn more about the laws in your state.

• Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health Education Project
  Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health (PRCH) is a doctor-led national advocacy organization that uses evidence-based medicine to promote sound reproductive health policies. Their Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health Education Project (ARSHEP) trains a select group of physicians to give free educational sessions to other providers about the best practices for reproductive healthcare.

• Billing for Confidential Adolescent Health Services
  The Billing for Confidential Adolescent Health Services fact sheet was developed by members of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Adolescent Health and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine to provide an overview of minors' right to consent for reproductive health services. This document addresses HIPAA regulations, confidential billing, and access to routine chlamydia screening for sexually active adolescent girls.

Back to Top

• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health
  Find information from CDC about LGBT health, including related sites about STDs and HIV.

• Gay and Bisexual Men’s Health
  Find information from CDC about the health of gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men (MSM).

• The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People: Building a Foundation for Better Understanding
  An Institute of Medicine (IOM) report underscores the need for more research and data to improve the health of LGBT populations. This lack of information on LGBT people has implications not only for the health of this population, but may also limit the ability of healthcare providers to provide LGBT persons with comprehensive care.

• Wisconsin Department of Health Services
  Information regarding sexual health resources directed toward LGBT youth and adults.

• SAMHSA LGBT Health Resources Kit
  SAMHSA’s Top Health Issues for LGBT Populations Information and Resource Kit contains fact sheets and PowerPoint slides that can be used individually or together. The first fact sheet, Helpful Terms for Prevention Specialists and Healthcare Providers, contains an overview of terms and definitions that are specific to LGBT populations. The second fact sheet, A Discussion about Gender Identity, provides an overview of how the concepts and theories about gender, gender roles, and gender identity have developed over time. Four individual fact sheets are dedicated to the top health issues for lesbians, gay men, bisexual men and women, and transgender people. The last fact sheet provides a listing of useful Web-based resources that supplement the information provided.

• Advocates for Youth
  Advocates for Youth published HIV/STI Prevention and Young Men Who Have Sex with Men and Young Men Who Have Sex with Men: At Risk for HIV and STIs to emphasize the importance of reaching the nation’s most at-risk population.

• Fenway Health
  The research institute of Boston-based Fenway Health published two policy briefs to help providers address LGBT patients' needs. The first details why information about patients' sexual and gender identity should be gathered in clinical settings; the second offers guidance on how to collect the data.

• Eight Best Practices for HIV Prevention Among Trans People
  The Center of Excellence for Transgender Health published this document to increase access to comprehensive, effective, and affirming services for trans and gender-variant communities.

• Advancing Effective Communication, Cultural Competence, and Patient- and Family-Centered Care for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Community: A Field Guide
  A field guide from the Joint Commission urges U.S. hospitals to create a more welcoming, safe, and inclusive environment that contributes to improved health care quality for LGBT patients and their families. The field guide features a compilation of strategies, practice examples, resources, and testimonials designed to help hospitals in their efforts to improve communication and provide more patient-centered care to their LGBT patients.

Back to Top

• Guide to Taking a Sexual History
  This guide provides healthcare professionals with a sample of the discussion points and questions to ask your patients to obtain a more complete picture of sexual and patient health.

• 2010 STD Treatment Guidelines
  Physicians and other healthcare providers play a critical role in preventing and treating STDs. Although the guidelines emphasize treatment, prevention strategies and diagnostic recommendations are also discussed.
  
  
• Update to CDC's Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment Guidelines, 2010: Oral Cephalosporins No Longer Recommended for Gonococcal Infections (August 2012, MMWR)
• The Growing Threat of Multidrug-Resistant Gonorrhea – CDC Public Health Grand Rounds - View recording of webinar from May 15, 2012 (May 18, 2012)

• The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Decision Memo for Screening for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and High-Intensity Behavioral Counseling (HIBC) to prevent (STIs) (CAG-00426N)
  Policy recommendations (2011) by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) will increase the importance of providers dealing with STIs/sexual health in healthcare settings. Based on these recommendations, high-Intensity behavioral counseling for sexually active individuals at increased risk for STIs is now covered by Medicaid.

• National Network STD/HIV Training Resources
  The National Network of STD/HIV Prevention Training Centers (NNPTC) is a CDC-funded group of regional centers created in partnership with health departments and universities. The PTCs are dedicated to increasing knowledge and skills of health professionals in the areas of sexual and reproductive health. The above link connects you to their online training Web page, including continuing education opportunities, clinical practice references, and teaching tools/curricula.

• Healthy People 2020 – Sexually Transmitted Diseases
  Healthy People provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans. One of the topic areas for HP2020 is STDs with several objectives related to STDs. The site also includes interventions and resources related to STDs.

• CDC Sexual Health Web Site
  Find information about various sexual health topics, such as HIV/AIDS prevention, viral hepatitis, STDs, sexual violence prevention, HIV/STD testing, reproductive health, pregnancy and HIV/viral hepatitis/STD prevention, and preconception care.

• NCHHSTP Atlas
  Atlas was created to provide an interactive platform for accessing HIV, viral hepatitis, STD, and tuberculosis (TB) data collected by CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. This interactive tool provides CDC an effective way to disseminate data, while allowing users to observe trends and patterns by creating detailed reports, maps, and other graphics.

• Syphilis Elimination Effort Resources
  Information on the U.S. Syphilis Elimination Effort, as well as access to key epidemiological data, health communication resources, and quick links to syphilis information.

Back to Top