Co-creating the clinical pathway for Test it, a web-accessed sexually transmitted infections testing service

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are continuing to rise in high-income countries, particularly among young adults. Increasing access to timely STI/HIV testing and treatment is key to reducing transmission. Web-accessed STI testing services have emerged as a pragmatic solution to improving access and uptake. However, these web-accessed alternatives do not always provide equivalent quality to in-person services. The scientific body of evidence around their development is limited and often not reported in detail, offering little guidance about design best practice. Translating a traditionally in-person service to a web-accessed one is a complex process that requires input from multiple stakeholders, including end users, clinical experts, and software developers, to support user acceptability, clinical safety, and technical feasibility. This manuscript outlines the evidence-based approach for establishing the clinical pathway for Test it, a statewide, publicly funded, web-accessed STI testing service targeting 16- to 29-year-olds in Victoria, Australia. We present the ten steps of the web-accessed clinical pathway and describe the iterative consultation and problem-solving process used to define them.