Upstream USA

Everyone deserves equitable, accessible, patient-centered contraceptive care. To do that, Upstream has partnered with 270+ healthcare organizations across 36 states (and counting) that reach more than one million patients of reproductive age each year. But our work is about more than just numbers; it’s about transforming clinical workflows and providing the training needed to deliver best-in-class contraceptive care. Our Impact page showcases the nationwide progress we’ve made with our partners to reduce barriers and empower patients to achieve their own goals for their bodies, families, and lives. 👀 See the change in action: upstream.org/impact/

Patients deserve access to IUD care that meets their needs, and providing a truly patient-centered experience means having a robust toolkit of IUD procedure pain management strategies at the ready. Earlier this week, Upstream hosted an accredited webinar on Patient-Centered Pain Management for IUD Procedures, where we reviewed practical strategies and current guidance for pain management for IUD placement. ➡️ Watch it here, where you can also find details about CME requirements: https://lnkd.in/gaPJ453r

Updates to contraceptive care best practices  – like the FDA formally approving Nexplanon’s duration of use to five years and the new NexplanonREMS requirement – highlight a challenge we hear from health centers all the time: Primary care teams are committed to excellence, but competing clinical demands and limited resources can make it hard to roll out new contraceptive care best practices in real-time.  As guidance evolves, whether through label updates, emerging research, method innovations including over-the-counter options, healthcare organizations need systems in place to keep providers informed and aligned with best practices. At Upstream, our work is focused on ensuring these transitions don’t become barriers to patient-centered care. We partner with healthcare organizations to: ➡️ Integrate best practices into existing clinical workflows. ➡️ Refresh materials to reflect the latest evidence-based guidance. ➡️ Advance patient-centered contraceptive care through training. ➡️ Operationalize changes consistently across every site of care. The recent Nexplanon label update and REMS provider certification requirement are perfect examples. While the manufacturer provides the required training, Upstream helps partners stay on top of these updates, ensuring the entire health system is ready to integrate changes to maintain access to these services. High-quality contraceptive care requires ongoing learning, strong systems, and organization-wide support – from clinical staff to the front desk. We’re proud to help our partners stay current so patients can access the full range of contraceptive services. If your health center is working to strengthen contraceptive care for your patients, we’d love to connect: https://lnkd.in/ga2yMs5D

Great news for contraceptive care access in Virginia! A bill that guarantees patient access to the full range of birth control methods has been signed into law. This will help ensure every patient in Virginia can access the contraceptive care they need. ➡️ Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eMqsXT3k

Just a few more days until our next webinar--have you registered yet? Join Upstream’s Lisa Goldthwaite, MD, MPH for a webinar dedicated to easing the IUD placement process on Monday, April 20th, at 3pm ET/12pm PT. Patients deserve access to IUD care that meets their needs, and providing a truly patient-centered experience means having a robust toolkit of IUD procedure pain management strategies at the ready! Registration is free, and 1.0 CE/CME credit can be claimed by those who attend. Register here: https://lnkd.in/ehfjqtfW

In a recent piece for STAT, Dr. Maryl Sackeim, MD MS, a practicing OB-GYN and family planning specialist in San Francisco, shared insights into how physicians are increasingly able to treat pain from IUD and other gynecological procedures. As Dr. Sackeim puts it, it starts with patient-centered care built upon respect, communication, and adequate support: "Everything from a surgery to pap smear should be grounded in the concepts of patient-centered and trauma-informed care. There are ways to make every one of these encounters more comfortable…A gynecologic encounter should not retraumatize or invalidate. Done right, it can heal." In 2024, the CDC released a set of updates that reflect an important shift in the framing of contraceptive decision-making. They also include a more comprehensive discussion of the importance of addressing pain with IUD procedures, and expanded options for pain management. ➡️ Interested in learning more? Upstream has resources on how to address IUD pain and anxiety management with patients: https://lnkd.in/epK4iwx6 Read more from STAT: https://lnkd.in/eK2n26DA

The healthcare landscape is shifting dramatically. In Idaho, for example, the state lost over one-third of its OB-GYN workforce between August 2022 and December 2024. This exodus—concentrated in rural counties—leaves a staggering 23 OBs to serve over 560,000 people across 37 counties. Provider shortages like these are acutely felt by patients seeking basic reproductive healthcare, and it's a direct outcome of policy changes following the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization Supreme Court decision. When an entire healthcare system is destabilized, access to essential services like contraception suffers. Upstream believes that contraceptive care doesn't, and shouldn't, need to be treated as specialty care–especially because 90% of women aged 18 to 64 have used contraception at some point. Primary care providers and nurses, not just OB-GYNs, can deliver high-quality, comprehensive access to contraception when they are properly trained and supported. And by integrating contraceptive care into primary care settings, we can safeguard patient access – despite provider shortages and policy uncertainty. Learn how primary care can support contraceptive care ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ggXwTEqP #ContraceptiveCare #HealthcareAccess #PrimaryCare #HealthEquity

Patients deserve access to IUD care that meets their needs, and providing a truly patient-centered experience means having a robust toolkit of IUD procedure pain management strategies at the ready. Join Upstream’s Lisa Goldthwaite, MD, MPH for a webinar dedicated to easing the IUD placement process on Monday, April 20th, at 3pm ET/12pm PT.  Registration is free, and 1.0 CE/CME credit can be claimed by those who attend. Register here: https://lnkd.in/ehfjqtfW

Why partner with Upstream? Our FREE contraceptive care training program has four key benefits: 1️⃣ Improve the patient experience 2️⃣ Improve the provider experience 3️⃣ Strengthen your health center’s financial position 4️⃣ Achieve better health outcomes 👏 98% of Upstream-trained clinicians report feeling confident in providing patient-centered contraceptive care, and access to affordable, equitable, quality care has never been more critical. Click to learn more about our free program: https://lnkd.in/ga2yMs5D 

There's a growing evidence base supporting the idea that Upstream was founded on: that contraceptive care can be successfully integrated into primary care. Recently, we published research in the journal Contraception that demonstrates how effective this approach is, even in a state like Massachusetts -- home to world-renowned healthcare institutions. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e-s5MA84