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In this month’s Form Feature, we’re highlighting the PreCHAT Pre-Conception Health Assessment Tool, developed by the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health Team.
What is the PreCHAT tool?
The Pre-Conception Health Assessment Tool (PreCHAT) is a clinically validated, patient-facing preconception health risk assessment tool designed for use in primary care settings. A 2022 study showed that PreCHAT is just as good as the best current tool for identifying preconception risk factors among people of reproductive age and can actually identify more risk factors than the current tool.
“This tool has been validated against other pre-conception health tools used in clinical practice. It identified risks that are important for about 75% more study participants when they validated the tool.” – Dr. Matthew Tenenbaum, Associate Medical Officer of Health at WDGPH
It only takes patients about 10 minutes to complete, but it covers over 14 topic areas and screens for over 130 risk factors.
10 minutes to complete
14 topic areas covered
130+ risk factors screened
Why is pre-conception health important?
Pre-conception health assessments help improve a person’s chances of having a healthy pregnancy and baby. These assessments usually include discussions about lifestyle choices, medical history, genetic factors, and recommendations for improving health before conception.
However, for physicians, it can be difficult to find the transition between pre-conception health and pregnancy since nearly half of births are unplanned. By having a tool accessible from the EMR, it becomes much easier to track a patient’s health at any stage of their life.
How to use the PreCHAT tool:
- In the Ocean Portal under eForms, search for “PreCHAT-Preconception Health Assessment Tool”
- Send the form to a patient via Patient Messages to complete at home. If they are in the clinic, queue the form on a tablet
- Once the patient completes the form, their responses will automatically move into their chart
- Ocean will also generate a provider-facing handout to help facilitate conversations
“[PreCHAT] has been validated against other pre-conception health tools used in clinical practice. It identified risks that are important for about 75% more study participants.”
For busy doctors, the PreCHAT tool puts the information front and center so that both patient and provider are empowered to have these conversations. To learn more about the PreCHAT tool, watch the video below or visit their website.
