IUD services among primary care practices in New York City

Intrauterine devices (IUDs) are one of the most effective forms of reversible contraception and can reduce unintended pregnancy rates. We explored practice characteristics associated with IUD services across a network of primary care practices in New York City during 2010-2013.

Data were extracted from electronic health records (EHRs) for 253 primary care practices participating in an EHR quality improvement program in New York City. We used diagnostic and procedure codes to count IUD insertions and removals among females aged 10-49 years during 2010-2013. Logistic regression models predicted the likelihood of IUD insertion, removal or no activity for 2013, based on practice characteristics. We stratified trends in IUD services over time by practice type and specialty.

From 2010 to 2013, the proportion of practices that inserted IUDs increased slightly from 4.7% to 6.3% (p=0.17), and the proportion removing IUDs increased from 8.3% to 12.3% (p<0.01). More than 60% of obstetricians/gynecologists and midwives performed insertions or removals each year; fewer than 10% of internal medicine and pediatric providers did so. Community health centers had higher odds of performing removals than independent practices (adjusted odds ratio=10.24, 95% confidence interval: 3.37-31.17). Practices seeing >66% female patients had higher odds of performing both insertions and removals.

From 2010 to 2013, IUD services increased but remained low among primary care practices in this network. Provider training and system readiness programs should include independent primary care practices, which rarely provide IUDs, to ensure that women can receive IUDs or IUD service referrals in the primary care setting.

Much of primary care in the United States takes place in independent practices with one or two providers. Our study of a major urban area found that these types of practices are much less likely to offer IUD services than community health centers. Ensuring that small practices know where to refer women for IUD insertion and removal services is warranted to ensure women's access to IUDs.