IOM Recommendations Also Support Screening/Counseling for Violence

Last week, we highlighted the Institute of Medicine’s recommendation that birth control be covered without co-pays as a preventive service under health care reform.

Several other aspects of women’s health were also covered by the Institute’s recommendations, including “screening and counseling for interpersonal and domestic violence.” While the birth control prevention got a lot of attention online, we’ve seen less discussion of this and other recommendations, so thought we’d highlight it.

An email we received from Futures Without Violence called it a “historic victory,” and explained, “This is not a requirement for screening for domestic violence. It does however, break down significant barriers to integrating comprehensive responses to domestic violence and we believe it will create new opportunities to train providers how to identify and help patients in abusive relationships.”

Seen any good discussion of this violence screening/counseling recommendation? Let us know in the comments.

As a reminder, you can view the Institute’s press release, recommendations, report brief, and full report, “Clinical Preventive Services for Women: Closing the Gap,” online. The Department of Health and Human Services will still need to adopt this list of recommendations for the care to be covered under the Affordable Care Act.

Somewhat relatedly, the Department of Health and Human Services (which will decide whether to accept the Institute’s recommendations), is holding an “Apps Against Abuse” challenge, inviting people to develop applications that “provide young adults with tools to help prevent sexual assault and dating violence.”