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Find the NCC on Facebook!
The National Chlamydia Coalition is now on Facebook. To follow the NCC, simply visit our page and click the "like" button. Don't forget to share it with your friends and colleagues!
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Dear Colleague,
Welcome to NCC News. This online newsletter was created to keep you up-to-date on all things chlamydia and related areas of interest. We hope you will find it useful and informative. Please feel free to share this with your colleagues who also may find it of use. |
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April is STD Awareness Month
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April is STD Awareness Month. This is a great opportunity to normalize conversations about sexual health; promote STD prevention, screening and treatment; and raise public awareness about the consequences of untreated STDs. Each year, there are approximately 20 million new sexually transmitted infections in the US, which can cause many short and long-term health problems, costing the American healthcare system nearly $16 billion in direct medical costs. It is more important now than ever that Americans, both young and old, understand the importance of getting tested. Check out these various CDC resources to help promote STD Awareness Month to your networks. Also, check out the GYT: Get Yourself Tested website where there is a variety of clinic resources that will give patients all the information they need, from FAQs on STDs and HIV to the benefits of using condoms.
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New Billing and Reimbursement Tools Available
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The Region I STD-Related Reproductive Health Training and Technical Assistance Center has added new tools to its Billing and Reimbursement Toolkit. These include: FAQs about Contracts with Third-Party Payers; Outsourced Billing Company: Tips and Considerations; and updates to In-house or Outsourced Billing. This toolkit is designed to help publicly-funded STD clinics and public health laboratories make decisions about whether to bill, and how to develop billing systems, manage revenue cycles, initiate contracts, and enhance coding capacity.
Region VII & VIII of the Sexual Health and Reproductive Health Promotion Training and Technical Assistance Center has created a new Laboratory Billing Decision tool. This tool provides an introduction to and guidance for billing, coding, and reimbursement for Public Health Laboratories that are either not currently billing third-party payers at all or not billing them proficiently.
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HPV Vaccine Recommendation Webinar
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is hosting a webinar on April 3rd from 11:00 AM (ET) on HPV vaccine recommendations. CDC's Dr. Lauri Markowitz will provide an  update on HPV vaccine recommendations and a review of the HPV vaccine session at last month's meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), when the ACIP voted on use of 9-valent HPV vaccine. CDC's Shannon Stokley will also be available to answer questions regarding programmatic implications, and CDC Health Communications Specialist Jill Roark will be on to respond to communications-related questions.
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| Differences in Contraceptive Use Among Women of Different Classes |
A new study concluded that poor women are five times as likely as affluent women to have an unintended birth. The study examined fertility outcomes of 3,885 single women who were not  trying to get pregnant. Those with incomes below the poverty line were twice as likely to have unprotected sex as those with incomes four times the poverty line. The difference boils down to contraceptive use, not sexual activity. Limited access to sex education and contraceptives in poor communities widens the income-fertility gap. Equalizing birth control use could reduce the ratio of unintended births by half. The study was conducted by the Brookings Institution.
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Registration Now Open for the National Sexual Health Conference
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Registration is now open for the National Sexual Health Conference, which will be held July 13-14, 2015, at the Keystone Resort in Keystone, Colorado. The conference aims to create opportunities to share information, efforts, and best practices around sexual health across the lifespan by bridging the disciplines of education, advocacy, and clinical care, among others. The conference is targeted to individuals across the range of sexual health including those involved in clinical care, education, reproductive health, HIV, STDs, LGBT healthcare, advocacy, policy development, hepatitis, and sexuality from birth to death.
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Female Health Company Launches Online Store
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The Female Health Company, manufacturer of the FC2 Female  Condom, has launched an online store for direct-to-consumer sales. FC2 is the only female-controlled product approved by the US Food and Drug Administration that provides dual protection against unintended pregnancy and STIs, including HIV/AIDS.
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New Dating App for Singles with STDs
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Hope is the new, free STD dating app designed to connect singles with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) with a partner. This app allows users to connect with other members in their immediate geographic location, as well as to upload an unlimited number of photographs. The developer hopes those using the app "embrace the experience as a blessing" and ultimately find true love. The app is available on the App store.
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