Errors, redundancies plague Iowa's family planning database

Wade Aldous, disease control director for the State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa, isn’t sure how the lab known for confirming cases of West Nile virus, influenza and food poisoning got on a state list of family planning program providers.

“I think that they use the term ‘provider’ very loosely,” he said. “We do not see patients.”

The state’s list of 1,431 providers as of Dec. 21, 2017, also includes dermatologists, surgeons and a pulmonologist — none of whom typically offer family planning services or prescribe birth control — and more than 100 providers without Iowa addresses or phone numbers.

The Iowa Department of Human Service offers the searchable database as a way for Iowans needing family planning services to find a provider under a new state program. But errors, duplicate names and listings for providers who don’t see patients actually may deter Iowans who need services such as birth control, pregnancy tests and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, advocates said.

“That is not a very user-friendly list,” said Jodi Tomlonovic, executive director of the Family Planning Council of Iowa. “It would be difficult for a patient or potential client to use.”

Read more: http://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/errors-redundancies-plague-iowas-family-planning-database-20180109