Can Webinars Influence Clinicians' Intent to Improve STD Screening and Treatment?

Background:   Dissemination of the 2010 STD Treatment Guidelines to clinicians is critical to improving STD clinical management. Limited time, resources, and training availability prevent many clinicians from attending in-person training. One solution is to offer trainings through webinars.

Objectives:   To describe the format and evaluation of a 2010 STD Treatment Guidelines webinar series designed to provide timely updates to large numbers of clinicians that may not be able to access in-person training.

Methods:  In January 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Network of STD/HIV Prevention Training Centers (NNPTC) conducted the first in a series of 2010 STD Treatment Guidelines webinar for clinicians. This webinar provided an in-depth look at guidelines changes. In June 2011, a second webinar focused on adolescent sexual health was held. Both webinars included CDC and NNPTC STD clinical experts. The adolescent webinar also featured experts from two national adolescent health professional organizations. After the topic presentations, experts addressed a number of participant-submitted questions.

Results:  The introductory webinar had 1,709 participants, almost all (94%) were clinicians, and 97.9% reported their intent to use information from the webinar in their clinical setting. The adolescent webinar had 1,552 participants, 83% were clinicians, 55.1% reported intent to make changes as a result of the webinar, and 30.2% reported that no change was necessary.

Conclusions:    Webinars can provide clinicians with up-to-date STD clinical information and are a valuable method to expand dissemination of CDC STD Treatment Guidelines. Clinicians participating in such webinars may be more likely to appropriately manage patients at risk for STDs.

Implications for Programs, Policy, and Research:  Providers of STD clinical training can reach large target audiences through webinars which may result in better STD screening and treatment practices. Patients at risk for STDs will benefit if more clinicians are familiar with the STD Treatment Guidelines.