Implications of the 2014 Quality Family Planning Services Guidelines Issued by the CDC and the Office of Population Affairs
A new report issued by the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative and the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health, both part of Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) at the George Washington University, examines the potential impact of comprehensive federal guidelines aimed at improving the quality of family planning services on the nation’s community health centers. According to Milken Institute SPH researchers, these guidelines carry special resonance for community health centers because they are designed to ensure that high-quality family planning services become an integral part of comprehensive primary health care. The new report, developed with input from a group of health center clinical experts, recommends the establishment of a HRSA workgroup to expeditiously translate the new guidelines into actionable health center practice reforms; the development of quality performance measures; a new HRSA investment in health centers’ family planning programs in order to address contraceptive access and staff development and training; and the provision of technical assistance.
