Update: Providing Quality Family Planning Services — Recommendations from CDC and the U.S. Office of Population Affairs, 2017

In April 2014, CDC published “Providing Quality Family Planning Services: Recommendations of CDC and the U.S. Office of Population Affairs” (QFP), which describes the scope of services that should be offered in a family planning visit and how to provide those services (e.g., periodicity of screening, which persons are in need of services, etc.) (1). The sections in QFP include the following: Determining the Client’s Need for Services; Contraceptive Services; Pregnancy Testing and Counseling; Clients Who Want to Become Pregnant; Basic Infertility Services; Preconception Health Services; Sexually Transmitted Disease Services; and Related Preventive Health Services. In addition, the QFP includes an appendix entitled Screening Services for Which Evidence Does Not Support Screening.

CDC and the Office of Population Affairs developed QFP recommendations by conducting an extensive review of published evidence, seeking expert opinion, and synthesizing existing clinical recommendations from CDC, agencies such as the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), and professional medical associations such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The scope of preventive services related to reproductive health is constantly evolving as new scientific findings are published and clinical recommendations are modified accordingly. Being knowledgeable about the most current recommendations is an important step toward providing the highest quality care to patients. To keep QFP current with the latest recommendations, CDC and the Office of Population Affairs publish occasional updates that summarize newly published clinical recommendations. The first of these updates was published in March 2016 (2), and covered guidelines published during April 2014–December 2015. This report summarizes recommendations from guidelines published during January 2016–April 2017. CDC and the Office of Population Affairs prepared these updates by searching for materials from CDC, USPSTF, and other professional medical organizations that had recommendations referenced in the original QFP. When updated recommendations were identified, they were evaluated for changes in implications for providing family planning care. CDC and the Office of Population Affairs determined that none of the newly published recommendations marked a substantial shift in how family planning care should be provided, and therefore did not seek additional review to consider the implications for the QFP for this update. Technical reviews from clinical experts representing a broad range of family planning providers might be appropriate for future updates.

Updated recommendations that have implications for clinical practice for family planning providers are highlighted ( Box). In addition, an updated reference list for each section in the QFP is provided for all recommendations published during January 2016–April 2017, including those that did not result in any change in recommended clinical practices for family planning providers.

Updated Reference List, by QFP Section

Determining the Client’s Need for Services

  1. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ Committee on Health Care for Underserved Women. Committee opinion no. 654: reproductive life planning to reduce unintended pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol 2016;127:e66–9. CrossRefPubMed

Contraceptive Services

  1. Curtis KM, Tepper NK, Jatlaoui TC, et al. U.S. medical eligibility criteria for contraceptive use, 2016. MMWR Recomm Rep 2016;65(No. RR-3). CrossRefPubMed
  2. Curtis KM, Jatlaoui TC, Tepper NK, et al. U.S. selected practice recommendations for contraceptive use, 2016. MMWR Recomm Rep 2016;65(No. RR-4). CrossRefPubMed
  3. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ Committee on Obstetric Practice. Committee opinion no. 670: immediate postpartum long-acting reversible contraception. Obstet Gynecol 2016;128:e32–7. CrossRefPubMed
  4. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ Committee on Gynecologic Practice Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptive Expert Work Group. Committee opinion no. 672: clinical challenges of long-acting reversible contraceptive methods. Obstet Gynecol 2016;128:e69–77. CrossRefPubMed

Clients Who Want to Become Pregnant

  1. Pfeifer S, Butts S, Fossum G, et al. ; Practice Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in collaboration with the Society for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. Optimizing natural fertility: a committee opinion. Fertil Steril 2017;107:52–8. CrossRefPubMed

Preconception Health Services

  1. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ Committee on Health Care for Underserved Women. Committee opinion no. 654: reproductive life planning to reduce unintended pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol 2016;127:e66–9. CrossRefPubMed
  2. Kim DK, Riley LE, Harriman KH, Hunter P, Bridges CB. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended immunization schedule for adults aged 19 years or older—United States, 2017. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2017;66:136–8. CrossRefPubMed
  3. Robinson CL, Romero JR, Kempe A, Pellegrini C; Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) Child/Adolescent Immunization Work Group. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended immunization schedule for children and adolescents aged 18 years or younger—United States, 2017. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2017;66:134–5. CrossRefPubMed
  4. US Preventive Services Task Force. Folic acid supplementation for the prevention of neural tube defects: preventive medication. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2017. https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Document/UpdateSummaryFinal/folic-acid-for-the-prevention-of-neural-tube-defects-preventive-medication
  5. US Preventive Services Task Force. Depression in adults: screening. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2016. https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Document/UpdateSummaryFinal/depression-in-adults-screening1
  6. US Preventive Services Task Force. Depression in children and adolescents: screening. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2016. https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Document/UpdateSummaryFinal/depression-in-children-and-adolescents-screening1

Sexually Transmitted Disease Services

  1. US Preventive Services Task Force. Syphilis infection in nonpregnant adults and adolescents: screening. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2016. https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Document/UpdateSummaryFinal/syphilis-infection-in-nonpregnant-adults-and-adolescents

Related Preventive Health Services

  1. US Preventive Services Task Force. Breast cancer: screening. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2016. https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Document/UpdateSummaryFinal/breast-cancer-screening1
  2. US Preventive Services Task Force. Gynecological conditions: periodic screening with the pelvic examination. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2017. https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Document/UpdateSummaryFinal/gynecological-conditions-screening-with-the-pelvic-examination

Screening Services for Which Evidence Does Not Support Screening

  1. US Preventive Services Task Force. Genital herpes infection: serologic screening. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2016. https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Document/UpdateSummaryFinal/genital-herpes-screening1