Skip to Main Content

On Feb. 21, 2024, Change Healthcare experienced a cyber security incident. Any individuals impacted by this incident will receive a letter in the mail. Learn more about this from Change Healthcare, or reach out to the contact center at 1-866-262-5342.

Tips for your Practice: Chlamydia Screening Recommendations

Date: 08/16/24

Superior HealthPlan would like to remind healthcare providers to communicate the importance of screening members for chlamydia. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Surveillance, 2022 website reported 1,649,716 cases of chlamydia, making it the most common nationally notifiable STI in the United States for that year. Rates of reported chlamydia remain highest among adolescents and young adults and in 2022, 57.7 percent of all cases of chlamydia were reported among ages 15 to 24 years of age.

As chlamydial infections are usually asymptomatic, diagnosing, and timely treatment is highly influenced by screening. Untreated chlamydia infections can lead to serious and irreversible complications, including Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), infertility and increased risk of becoming infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

Providers can help Superior members by ensuring a sexual history assessment is part of routine healthcare. The CDC’s A Guide to Taking a Sexual History webpage recommends creating a welcoming clinical environment for all patients beginning at registration. Establishing your patient’s name and pronouns, as well as their sexual orientation and gender identity, are important in medical care. Additionally, some patients may not be comfortable talking about their sexual history, sex partners, or sexual practices, and some patients may have experienced abuse or trauma in their lives. Use of trauma-informed care approach can help all clinicians apply patient-centered, sensitive care to these interactions to make patients feel comfortable. Please see the CDC’s Chlamydia Screening Recommendation  for women listed below:

  • Sexually active women under 25 years of age.
  • Sexually active women 25 years of age and older if at increased risk.
  • Retest approximately 3 months after treatment.
  • Rectal chlamydial testing can be considered in females based on reported sexual behaviors and exposure, through shared clinical decision between the patient and the provider.

The risk-based chlamydia screening measure evaluates the percentage of women 16 to 24 years of age who were identified as sexually active and have had at least one test for chlamydia during the year. Including women who are pregnant, have had a pregnancy test, filled a prescription for contraceptive medication or had testing or diagnosis of STIs are defined as “sexually active” for inclusion in this measure. Pharmacy and claim/encounter data are used for the identification of “sexually active” women.

Tips & Best Practices for Completing Risk-Based Assessment and Screening for Chlamydia

  • Perform chlamydia screening every year on every 16-to-24-year-old female identified as being sexually active.
  • Inform patients that chlamydia screening can be performed through a urine test.
    • Offer this as an option for patients.
  • Add chlamydia screening as a standard lab for 16-to-24-year-old females.
    • Use well-child exams and well-women exams for this purpose.
  • Place a chlamydia swab next to pap test or pregnancy detection materials.
  • Meet with teens and young adults separately from their parents to allow open conversation.
  • Advise these patients during wellness visits, or when they are seen for birth control, to get screened for chlamydia.

For more information on screening recommendations and considerations mentioned above please visit the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force - Chlamydia and Gonorrhea: Screening webpage.

For additional information, please visit Superior’s Practice Guidelines webpage.