Intimate Partner Violence and Human Trafficking: Building Community Partnerships, Safely Optimizing UDS Data Collection with a New EHR SmartForm

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) affects 1 in 2 women; 2 in 5 men; for people of trans experience, rates increase to 1 in 3. Health harms include abuse, reproductive coercion, sexually transmitted diseases (STIs), traumatic brain injuries and strangulation, to substance use, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Human trafficking (HT), or exploitation more broadly, has health impacts mirroring IPV. One study showed that 87.8 percent of trafficked victims had contact with a provider, and 57.1 percent visited a clinic while trafficked. HRSA began collecting IPV and HT diagnosis and services UDS data in 2020. Health centers have challenges capturing this IPV and HT data. Currently, many EHRs do not have discrete fields to directly document IPV and HT. Without proper safeguards, documentation with the recommended ICD-10 diagnosis codes for UDS could result in inappropriate identification/labeling within the EHR, and potential harm for the patient's privacy, confidentiality, and safety. This session will discuss ways your health center can systematically facilitate outreach, prevention, universal education, care for patients, and connections to resources and services while safely documenting IPV and HT within EHR for UDS reporting. One example of an EHR tool (EPIC OCHIN) and the principles behind its development will be discussed.