Walgreens Healthcare Clinics to Offer Testing Services for Sexually Transmitted Infections

Walgreens Healthcare Clinics in 18 select cities will offer testing services for sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Nurse practitioners and physician assistants will conduct a consultation with the patient and, if applicable, test for STIs. Providers can offer treatment or refer the patient to a specialist, according to a press release.

“Offering these new services in our Healthcare Clinics demonstrates our ongoing commitment to improving the comprehensive health and wellbeing of our patients,” Pat Carroll, MD, chief medical officer for Walgreens Healthcare Clinics, said in a release. “We’re proud to introduce the testing services during STD Awareness Month in April, and support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in raising public awareness about the impact that STDs—–the diseases that can develop from STIs––can have on the lives of Americans and the importance of testing and prevention.”

Additionally, Walgreens is continuing its efforts in the prevention and early detection of HIV. Beginning April 25, 2017, providers at Healthcare Clinics in Houston, TX, can prescribe pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

PrEP can help reduce the risk of HIV by more than 90% when taken regularly.

“With our long history of working with the HIV/AIDS community, we are as committed as ever to the ongoing, incredible advancement in HIV testing, prevention, and treatment that has occurred over the last decade, and to provide greater access to high quality testing and prevention services through theclinicsand out pharmacies,” Glen Pietrandoni, Walgreens senior director, virology disease state, said in a release.

Chain-wide, Walgreens pharmacy staff and store managers will complete HIV Continuing Education (CE) training courses, which will include a Walgreens-developed HIV stigma course and an HIV prevention course that was developed in collaboration with the National Alliance of HIV Education and Workforce Development. The training will also include tools for improving PrEP adherence.

“With this training, our pharmacy staff will be even more equipped to offer one-on-one medication counseling and other support services that provide our patients living with HIV/AIDS and their families, as well as those at risk for HIV, with compassionate, confidential care,” Pietrandoni said.