Pharm Report Issue No. 19
A newsletter to update clinic staff on current issues in healthcare
Issue XIX (June 2025)
Sexual Health
Expedited Partner Therapy (EPT)
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has resources about Expedited Partner Therapy (EPT) for pharmacists, clinicians, and patients. EPT is legal in Wisconsin and strongly encouraged. Wisconsin law explicitly allows medical providers to prescribe, dispense, or furnish treatment for gonorrhea, chlamydia, and trichomoniasis for a patient’s partner(s) without a medical evaluation of the partner(s). This act also protects healthcare professionals, including pharmacists, from civil or professional liability involving the provision of EPT. For more information, see DHS’ EPT Quick Reference Guide for Clinicians and Pharmacists.
To dispense EPT prescriptions, pharmacists:
- Must ask about allergies.
- Must provide an EPT patient information sheet (such as the ones on the DHS website) for each medication provided.
- May, but are not required to, ask for the name and date of birth of medication recipients.
New Prophylactic Therapy for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)
The CDC now recommends the use of a single post-exposure dose of doxycycline to significantly reduce the chance of transmission of syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea. Doxycycline postexposure prophylaxis (doxy PEP) has been shown in several randomized controlled trials to reduce transmission of syphilis and chlamydia by over 70% and gonococcal infections by approximately 50%.
Doxy PEP is recommended for patients belonging to high-risk populations, such as men who have sex with men and transgender women, who have been diagnosed with a bacterial STI in the past 12 months. After involving shared clinical decision-making and implementing a comprehensive sexual health plan, 200 mg of doxycycline can be prescribed to be self-administered within 72 hours of oral, vaginal, or anal sex to reduce risk or spread of STIs. More information on doxy PEP can be found here.
Wisconsin tracks and reports rates of sexually transmitted diseases—to see more information on local trends in your county, click here.
DHS Issues Statewide Standing Order For OTC Emergency Contraception
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services issued a standing order to allow pharmacists to dispense a prescription for the emergency contraceptive levonorgestrel. ForwardHealth requires a prescription order for the cost of OTC products to be covered under Medicaid, which the standing order fulfills. The order is written for levonorgestrel (multiple brand names) only, and does NOT cover ulipristal (brand name Ella).
Prescription Tips
Don’t forget to send prescriptions for needles and syringes when issuing prescriptions for testosterone injections.
Miss an issue of our Pharm Report? Find them all here!