Increasing Accessibility to Long-Acting Reversible Contraception in a Public Health Setting.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Reproductive Health
• Quality Improvement

Background:

• Access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) is crucial for women of reproductive age.
• Previous eligibility criteria at a rural Georgia public health clinic involved multiple visits and unnecessary screenings, limiting access and increasing costs.
• These barriers created significant delays between LARC requests and insertions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance access to LARC by developing and implementing evidence-based insertion criteria.
• To reduce associated costs and improve patient outcomes in a public health setting.

Main Methods:

• A quality improvement pilot project was conducted to revise LARC eligibility criteria.
• The study compared the mean number of days between LARC request and insertion before (2007) and after (2017) criteria implementation.
• Cost savings were secondarily analyzed, and the number of same-day LARC insertions was tracked.

Main Results:

• A statistically significant decrease in the mean wait time for LARC insertion was observed after implementing the new criteria (p < .01).
• All women who requested LARC received it, with over half of insertions occurring on the same day.
• The clinic achieved cost savings of nearly $1,000 on LARC insertions.

Conclusions:

• Revised LARC insertion criteria substantially decreased wait times and increased same-day insertions.
• The updated policy improved patient access to LARC, thereby reducing the risk of unintended pregnancies.
• This quality improvement initiative demonstrates a successful model for enhancing reproductive healthcare services in public health clinics.