Clinical Care Resources

STD Treatment Guidelines - 2010 Changes
Confidentiality
Billing and Coding
Screening Questionnaires
Recommended Immunization Schedule Ages 10-25 years
S.T.O.P. Meningitis!

Changes in the 2010 STD Treatment Guidelines

Over 19 million cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) occur in the United States each year, with a disproportionate share among young people and racial and ethnic minority populations. The estimated annual direct medical costs of treating STDs and their sequelae are $17.0 billion. Left untreated, STDs can cause serious health problems ranging from infertility to increased risk of HIV infection.

To stop these silent epidemics, the 2010 STD Treatment Guidelines¹, which update the 2006 Guidelines, advise healthcare providers who play a critical role in preventing and treating STDs on the most effective treatment regimens, screening procedures, and prevention and vaccination strategies for STDs. The recommendations are developed in consultation with public and private sector professionals knowledgeable in the treatment of patients with sexually transmitted infections. CDC revises the Guidelines periodically, approximately every three to four years, using a scientific, evidence-based process.

Click for the full list of recommendations.

The complete treatment guidelines, as well as information on webinars, ordering information regarding Guidelines hard copies, wall charts, and pocket guides and downloading iPhone and eBook versions can be viewed and downloaded on the CDC's website. Or contact CDC-INFO at 800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636), 24 hours/day, or e-mail cdcinfo@cdc.gov.

Confidentiality

Tips for Protecting Youth Confidentiality
Tips for Protecting Youth Confidentiality was developed by San Francisco's Adolescent Health Working Group (www.ahwg.net). This document outlines how clinic staff can ensure that their offices are conscious of confidentiality of adolescent patients. Tips for ensuring confidentiality when parents are involved are also included. In addition, this document includes a checklist to assist medical providers in making their offices adolescent-friendly.
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. The fact sheet is a good resource for medical care providers seeking more information about minors' rights to consent for reproductive health care and how to protect that confidentiality through office practices and procedures.
Promoting Adolescent Reproductive Health Project: Basic Tenets of Caring for Teens
Promoting Adolescent Reproductive Health Project: Basic Tenets of Caring for Teens, developed by members of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Adolescent Health and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, provides guidance on how to code for confidential adolescent health care services. The document includes vignettes portraying an adolescent receiving reproductive health services to help practitioners practice using the CPT codes to protect adolescent confidentiality.
Confidential Adolescent Services - Example Document to Customize for your Own Practice (Microsoft Word 97-2003 Format)
The Confidential Adolescent Services was developed by members of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine and the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Adolescent Health based on an evaluated handout (Hutchinson JW, Stafford EM, Pediatrics 2005; 116:966-71). This document can be used in a letter to parents of adolescent patients to explain the importance of confidential adolescent health services. Please note that the current document is formatted for New York State (excluding New York City). Provider offices and clinics that wish to use this document outside Upstate New York can customize this document by substituting their state name where relevant by ensuring their own state laws are accurately represented, and by substituting their states’ relevant Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data available at: http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/yrbss/. Accessed September 2, 2008.

Billing and Coding

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. The fact sheet is a good resource for medical care providers seeking more information about minors' rights to consent for reproductive health care and how to protect that confidentiality through office practices and procedures.
Promoting Adolescent Reproductive Health Project: Basic Tenets of Caring for Teens
Promoting Adolescent Reproductive Health Project: Basic Tenets of Caring for Teens, developed by members of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Adolescent Health and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, provides guidance on how to code for confidential adolescent health care services. The document includes vignettes portraying an adolescent receiving reproductive health services to help practitioners practice using the CPT codes to protect adolescent confidentiality.
Coding for Adolescent Reproductive Health Services
Coding for Adolescent Reproductive Health Services was developed by members of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Adolescent Health and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. This spreadsheet lists commonly used CPT codes for reproductive health services and can be used on clinic encounter forms and/or billing sheets.

Screening Questionnaires

The Health Survey for Adolescents was developed by University of Rochester Adolescent Medicine Division faculty as part of an initiative originating from the New York State Department of Health Office of Managed Care to improve preventive health service delivery to adolescents. The survey is a brief tool used to assess high priority risk behaviors, such as unintentional injury, nutrition, exercise, tobacco and other drugs, mental health, and sexual health. The Health Survey for Adolescents can be reviewed by the provider using the Provider Information Manual, which offers sample responses, in order to guide the provider in their interaction with adolescents. These are also available in English and Spanish via the University of Rochester Medical Center Department of Pediatrics Adolescent Medicine Fellowship page. :Accessed September 3, 2008.

Immunization

Recommended Immunization Schedule for Adolescents Ages 10-25 years – The Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine is pleased to share an immunization schedule created by the Immunization Action Coalition for the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. This schedule is based on the “Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule” approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), and the “Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule” approved by ACIP, AAFP, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and the American College of Physicians (ACP). Download the immunization schedule in PDF (updated March 2011).

S.T.O.P. Meningitis!, which stands for Share. Teach. Outreach. Protect., is a program sponsored by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) in collaboration with the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine and several other leading medical and advocacy groups to help clinicians and other health care providers implement new meningococcal disease immunization recommendations for adolescents and college-bound students.