TCHMB QUALITY IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVE
Screening and Treatment in Outpatient Pregnancy Care to Prevent Congenital Syphilis (STOP-CS)
The Texas Collaborative for Healthy Mothers and Babies (TCHMB), in collaboration with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), developed and pilot tested a quality improvement toolkit to support congenital syphilis prevention in outpatient maternity care.
Project Purpose
Reducing congenital syphilis (CS) in Texas is critical to reducing adverse birth outcomes and complications of pregnancy. This work aligns with TCHMB’s goal of reducing morbidity and mortality for Texas mothers and babies.
STOP CS focuses on supporting outpatient maternity care professionals in improving the timeliness of syphilis screening, diagnosis, treatment during pregnancy, and follow-up care.
TOOLKIT AVAILABLE
The STOP CS Toolkit
Supporting congenital syphilis prevention through quality improvement.
About the Toolkit
The Texas Collaborative for Healthy Mothers and Babies (TCHMB) is excited to announce the release of a new quality improvement (QI) resource, the Screening and Treatment in Outpatient Pregnancy Care to Prevent Congenital Syphilis (STOP CS) Toolkit, informed by TCHMB’s mission and the work as the state perinatal quality collaborative.
In collaboration with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), TCHMB has developed and pilot tested a toolkit addressing congenital syphilis (CS) for maternity care professionals at outpatient clinics. This toolkit is now available to help clinics integrate best practices and tailored strategies to improve timeliness of syphilis screening, diagnosis, treatment during pregnancy and follow-up care.
What's Included
Materials included in this toolkit have been adapted from extensive, publicly available national, state, and local-level resources that include a variety of QI initiatives focused on CS, evidence-based guidelines and best practices, QI resources, and clinical support tools.
Why It Matters
Reducing CS in Texas is critical to reducing adverse birth outcomes and complications of pregnancy and is closely aligned with TCHMB’s goals of reducing morbidity and mortality for all Texas mothers and babies. The STOP CS Toolkit can serve as a vital resource to guide QI efforts in outpatient maternity care clinics and other settings that serve pregnant women.
Access the Toolkit
Complete the brief form to request access to the STOP CS Toolkit. The toolkit will be sent to the email address you provide.
If you would like to receive information about future STOP CS resources, select the option on the form allowing TCHMB to follow up with you.
Project Timeline and Background
Timeline
Background
Syphilis is a preventable and curable sexually transmitted infection that, if untreated, can cause serious health consequences. CS is transmitted to babies during pregnancy or at delivery by an untreated or inadequately treated woman with syphilis. Texas accounted for nearly 25% of the nation’s CS cases in 2023. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 90% of CS cases can be prevented with timely testing and adequate treatment. Improving screening, diagnosis, and treatment of syphilis during pregnancy is critical to reducing CS in Texas and is closely aligned with TCHMB’s goals of reducing morbidity and mortality for mothers and babies and eliminating health outcome disparities.
For questions, please email tchmb-stopcs@uth.tmc.edu.
