Background:
A significant increase in Primary and Secondary syphilis beginning in 2003 and accelerating in the second quarter of 2004 led the Baltimore City Health Department to implement a syphilis outbreak response. The need to document client information on all patients being screened during outreach activities -including risk data - in one management information system easily accessible to all DIS staff, outreach workers and program management was identified as critical.

Objective:
Develop a system to manage high risk client data in a management information system easily accessible to all program staff involved in case management and epidemiologic analysis.


Method:
The “clinic visit” component in STD*MIS was not being utilized by the program therefore it was adapted using “local use” fields to collect all information from client intake forms. These forms including risk data were input into the system. Laboratory results on both positive and negative clients were input and when needed field records were initiated on positives needing follow-up.

Result:
The data is valuable in evaluating the success of outreach prevention and intervention activities. It provides demographic and risk information on all clients reached. Additional benefits included the development of computerized “aka” data on commercial sex workers and negative serology records on individuals who later became infected with both syphilis and HIV, thereby allowing more effective prioritization of cases. It also allowed the program to submit HIV testing data electronically rather than complete an additional bubble form.

Conclusion:
A central easily accessed database of individuals reached through community outreach improves program effectiveness for STD Prevention Programs.

Implications:
A central easily accessed database of individuals reached through community outreach improves program effectiveness for STD Prevention Programs.