Routine Screening for Pregnancy Intention to Address Unmet Reproductive Health Needs in Two Urban Federally Qualified Health Centers.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this project was to increase rates of screening for pregnancy intention in primary care.

METHODS: Two urban federally qualified health centers with diverse patient populations undertook a quality improvement project to increase rates of routine screening for pregnancy intention among pre-menopausal non-pregnant women ages 12-45 without history of sterilization. Responses were recorded in the electronic medical record (EMR).

RESULTS: Screening rates of eligible women increased from 0% to 68.3% and from 49.0% to 80.3% at Sites 1 and 2, respectively. Adolescents were screened at lower rates than adults (p < .0001). There was no significant difference in screening rates between English and non-English speaking patients. Project challenges included cultural relevance to certain patient groups, staff turnover, and time for follow-up counseling.

CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of routine pregnancy intention screening is important to address unmet reproductive health needs, and can be successfully implemented through an EMR regardless of primary language.