This page is general health information, not medical advice. It cannot tell you whether you have an infection. A clinician can, and the testing options on this site are a good place to start.

Many people want to know who will see their results before they book a visit. That is a fair question, and the answer depends on the type of test, the clinic and how you pay.

This guide explains the difference between anonymous and confidential testing. It covers what Illinois reporting rules mean in plain words, how an insurance statement can reveal a visit, and how to plan a private visit in Chicago.

Wanting privacy is common and reasonable. Nothing here assumes anything about your life, your partners or your reasons.

Anonymous vs. confidential: what the words mean

The two words sound alike, but they describe different things.

Anonymous testing means the site does not record your name. You are identified by a number or code, and you use it to get your results.
Confidential testing means the clinic knows who you are and keeps your information private under health privacy rules. Your name is in a medical record, but the clinic does not share it freely.

Most clinics in the United States offer confidential testing. Anonymous testing is less common, and where it exists it is often limited to certain tests, such as HIV.

Is STD testing confidential in Chicago?

In general, yes. Clinics that provide care are bound by health privacy rules, and they do not hand your results to family, employers or partners. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services explains your privacy rights under the federal HIPAA rule on its website.

Confidential does not mean the information goes nowhere. Two things are worth knowing in advance: public health reporting and insurance billing. Both are covered below.

Which Chicago options offer which

The published information for Chicago clinics describes confidential care. The pages we reviewed do not say whether any site offers fully anonymous testing, so ask before you go. Here is what each source says about itself.

Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) Sexual Health Specialty Clinics. CDPH runs clinics in Lakeview (2849 N. Clark St., 312.744.5507), Austin (4909 W. Division St., Suite 411, 312.746.4871) and Roseland (200 E. 115th St., 312.747.1090). CDPH states that care is provided regardless of ability to pay or insurance status. Its page asks insured patients to bring an insurance card and does not say the visit is free. It lists appointments by phone with limited walk-ins, so call to confirm hours.
Howard Brown Health. Howard Brown runs a walk-in sexual health clinic at its Sheridan (4025 N. Sheridan Rd.), 63rd Street (641 W. 63rd St.) and Broadway Youth Center (1023 W. Irving Park Road) sites. The phone number is 773.388.1600. It describes the service as low-cost, with no appointment needed, and offers a Sliding Fee Discount Program based on income and family size.
Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center (Cook County Health). The walk-in STI Screening Clinic is at 2020 W. Harrison St. Cook County Health says to call Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 3:30 pm, at 312-572-4700, and that same-day HIV and STI services are provided. CDC GetTested lists a sliding scale for this site.
Planned Parenthood of Illinois, Rogers Park Health Center. This site is at 5725 N Broadway, phone (773) 942-7193. The CDC GetTested listing says an appointment is required and lists insurance and Medicaid as accepted. It does not state a self-pay or sliding scale option.

For a fuller comparison of costs and walk-in options, see our guide to where to get tested in Chicago and what it costs.

What you will need

A phone to call the clinic and ask your privacy questions.
A photo ID if the clinic asks for one. Ask whether you need it.
Your insurance card, if you plan to use insurance. Skip this if you plan to pay on your own.
A safe phone number or email for results. Decide which contact method you are comfortable with.
A short list of questions, such as the ones in step 3 below.
A list of recent exposures and symptoms, if any, so the clinician can choose the right tests.

Step-by-step: how to get private testing in Chicago

Step 1. Decide what level of privacy you need

Ask yourself what you are trying to protect. Some people want to avoid a name in any record. Others only want to keep a statement from arriving in a family mailbox. The answer changes which option fits best.

Anonymous testing addresses the first concern. A confidential visit with careful billing choices addresses the second.

Step 2. Choose a site

Pick from the list above, or browse the local testing list. You can also use the CDC's locator at gettested.cdc.gov, which lists sites by ZIP code and shows services and payment options when the site has provided them.

If you want a walk-in visit, Howard Brown and the CORE Center describe walk-in services. If you prefer a scheduled time, CDPH and Planned Parenthood take appointments.

Step 3. Call and ask your privacy questions

A short call can answer most concerns. Useful questions include:

Do you offer anonymous testing, or is all testing confidential and recorded under my name?
If I pay myself, will you bill my insurance at all?
If I use insurance, can my results or billing be sent somewhere other than my home?
How will I get my results, and can I choose phone, portal or in person?
Is the visit free, or what do I owe? A clinic that does not publish a price can tell you when you call.

You can also call the Illinois HIV/STD Hotline at 1-800-243-2437, listed by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), to ask where to find the kind of testing you want.

Step 4. Decide how you will pay

How you pay is the main thing that decides whether someone else might see a record of your visit.

Self-pay or sliding scale. If you pay yourself, there may be no insurance claim at all. Howard Brown and the CORE Center list sliding-scale options.
Care regardless of ability to pay. CDPH says it provides care regardless of ability to pay or insurance status. Ask how they handle billing if you do not want to use insurance.
Insurance. This is convenient, but a claim can produce a statement. See the next section.

Step 5. Go to your visit

Tell the clinician what brings you in and any symptoms you have. They will choose tests based on your history and the CDC STI Treatment Guidelines (2021), which recommend different screening for different people and body sites.

A visit can involve a urine sample, a swab, a blood draw or a finger-stick. Say so if you would prefer to self-collect a swab, which many clinics allow.

Step 6. Set up how you will receive results

Before you leave, confirm how and when your results will arrive. Give only the phone number or portal that you are comfortable with. If you do not hear back by the date given, call the clinic. Do not assume no news means a negative result.

Step 7. Plan follow-up

If a test comes back positive, a clinician can explain next steps. Chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and trichomoniasis are curable with treatment that a clinician prescribes. HIV and herpes are not curable, but they are treatable and manageable with care from a clinician.

How insurance statements can reveal a visit

When a clinic bills insurance, the insurer often sends an explanation of benefits, or EOB. It is usually mailed or posted online to the main policyholder. It may list the date, the clinic and the services billed.

If you are covered under a parent's, partner's or spouse's plan, that person may see it. This is the most common way a private visit becomes known.

You have options:

Pay on your own. A self-pay or sliding-scale visit may mean no claim and no EOB. Ask the clinic to confirm that they will not bill your plan.
Ask your insurer for confidential communications. HHS explains that under HIPAA, health plans must accommodate reasonable requests to send communications by an alternative method or to an alternative address if you say that sending them the usual way could put you in danger. Many insurers accept requests in other situations too. Ask your insurer what it requires.
Check your online account settings. Some plans let you turn off paper statements or choose where they go.
Ask the clinic what the claim will say. A billing office can tell you what appears on a claim.

Policies differ by insurer, so confirm the details with your plan before your visit. The sources reviewed here do not describe each Chicago clinic's billing practices, so ask the clinic directly.

Illinois reporting rules in plain words

Confidential does not mean unreported. Public health departments track certain infections so they can see trends and offer support.

The Illinois Administrative Code (77 Ill. Adm. Code Part 693) lists HIV infection, AIDS, syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia and chancroid as reportable. Health care professionals must send a case report within seven days of diagnosis or treatment. In Chicago, which has its own health department, those reports go to the local health department.

In plain terms:

A positive result for a reportable infection is shared with the health department by the clinician. A negative result is not.
The report is a public health record. It is not sent to your employer, your family or your insurer.
Health departments may contact people with a positive result to offer help with care and partner notification. Ask the clinic what to expect.

The Illinois statute on minor consent (410 ILCS 210/4) also says each STD incident must be reported to public health.

If you are under 18

Under the Illinois Consent by Minors to Health Care Services Act (410 ILCS 210/4), a minor age 12 or older who may have come into contact with a sexually transmitted disease may consent to care related to prevention, diagnosis or treatment. Parental consent is not necessary.

The law also says providers shall make reasonable efforts to involve the family if they believe it would not be harmful. Ask the clinic how it handles this. Howard Brown's Broadway Youth Center describes youth services for ages 12 to 24.

A note on home HIV testing

Erie Family Health Centers, a Chicago nonprofit health center, offers a free rapid HIV test kit by online request or by phone at 312-386-6344. It is for Illinois residents who are 17 or older. It tests for HIV only, not other STIs.

The sources reviewed for this guide did not identify a state or city mail-order program for free STI home tests. If you use a home test, a clinician can help you with follow-up.

What to expect from results

Most results arrive within a few days, though timing varies by test and clinic. Some HIV tests give results during the visit.

A negative result may mean the test did not find an infection. It may not rule out a very recent exposure, because tests have window periods. The CDC publishes different window periods for different HIV tests, so ask the clinician which one applies to you.
A positive result means the test found a sign of infection. The clinician may suggest a confirmatory test and will explain next steps.
Some results may be unclear. A clinician may suggest repeating the test.

If your partners need treatment, Illinois allows expedited partner therapy for chlamydia, gonorrhea and trichomoniasis. The CDC's legal status page for Illinois notes that it applies to partners exposed within the previous 60 days, with counseling and written materials from IDPH. It does not cover syphilis. Ask your clinician whether it applies to you.

Tips and common mistakes

Assuming a clinic is anonymous. Most are confidential, not anonymous. Ask.
Using insurance without checking the EOB. If privacy from the policyholder matters, plan the payment first.
Giving a phone number others can access. Choose a contact method only you check.
Skipping the call. CDPH says to call the clinic to verify hours, and walk-in availability is limited.
Not asking about cost. The CDPH page does not say its visits are free, so ask before you go.
Waiting to ask about window periods. If you had a recent exposure, ask the clinician when to test and whether to retest.
Skipping follow-up. A negative result today may not cover a later exposure. Ask the clinician how often you should be screened, based on the CDC guidelines.

Free and low-cost places to start

If cost is a concern, these sources describe lower-cost options: the CDPH clinics (care regardless of ability to pay), Howard Brown's sliding fee program and the CORE Center's sliding scale. Use gettested.cdc.gov to find more sites by ZIP code.

You can also read about PrEP and related services through IDPH. The PrEP4Illinois helpline is 1-833-773-7445. Many testing sites can talk with you about PrEP if you want to learn more.

Key takeaways

Anonymous means no name on record. Confidential means your name is on record and protected.
Chicago clinics describe confidential care. Ask each one whether anonymous testing is offered.
Paying on your own may prevent an insurance statement. Ask before you book.
Clinicians must report certain positive results to the health department within seven days. This is a public health record, not a notice to anyone in your life.
A clinician or the Illinois HIV/STD Hotline at 1-800-243-2437 can help you choose a place to start.

Anonymous and Confidential STD Testing in Chicago