To address the intersecting epidemics of HIV, Hepatitis C (HCV), and syphilis in Miami-Dade County, Baptist Health South Florida (BHSF) expanded its innovative Electronic Health Record (EHR) syndemic screening model across multiple emergency departments in 2024. Building on the success of Homestead Hospital (HH) and West Kendall Baptist Hospital’s (WKBH) routine HIV/HCV screening program, Baptist Main Hospital (BMH) and South Miami Hospital (SMH) implemented scalable workflows and smart syphilis screening algorithms into their EHR. This expansion was supported by strategic public-private partnerships with hospital leadership and the Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County (DOH-Miami-Dade) which provided a dedicated Disease Intervention Specialists (DIS) to ensure timely linkage to care and prevention services.

In the first year, both hospitals saw dramatic increases in HIV testing, BMH by 705% and SMH by 1,013% with over 22,000 combined tests and nearly 100 individuals linked to care HIV including relinking and confirming HIV care with the DOH-Miami-Dade. Syphilis screening also identified and supported numerous cases, especially with pregnant individuals, helping to prevent congenital transmission through referrals to Comprehensive Preventive Services (CPS). This initiative demonstrates the feasibility and impact of embedding syndemic screening into emergency care, offering a replicable model for other health systems aiming to reduce disease burden, enhance prevention, improve outcomes, and lower healthcare costs through early detection and intervention.