The Clinical Director/PT Lead regularly attended Active Retention in Care for Health (ARCH) team meetings to provide clinical consultation and technical assistance. BNHC
continued to be successful linking 100% of newly diagnosed clients to care within 30 days. The number of clients who did not have a medical visit in the last 6 months decreased from 29% in 2016 to 11% in 2017 in large part due to the work of the ARCH team and the support of the NEAETC PTP team.
Clinician Consultation Center Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Hotline (PEPline) and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Hotline (PrEPline)
A family nurse practitioner in a multispecialty clinic in the Midwest called the PEPline regarding her 28-year old female patient who had condomless vaginal intercourse the night before with a non-mutually monogamous man of unknown HIV status. The partner has repeatedly declined HIV testing, and the patient’s last negative HIV test was more than a year ago. The patient takes fluoxetine for depression, and has no other medical conditions. The caller asked whether post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is warranted. [Read more…] about Clinician Consultation Center Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Hotline (PEPline) and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Hotline (PrEPline)
New England AETC New Hampshire Regional Partner (NH RP): Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC), Lebanon, NH
As part of their AIDS Seminar Series, NH RP held an update on CROI. Of the 27 participants, 22 (81.5%) completed ACRE IP. Participants’ knowledge scores pre-training to post-training significantly increased from 2.50 to 3.32 (t=6.521; p<.001). This group of participants averaged 3.15 on their self-assessment of their ability to apply content knowledge from this session in their work setting.
New England AETC Vermont Regional Partner (VT RP): University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington, VT
In 2017, a cluster of HIV cases presented some new challenges, in addition to a greater volume of people coming into care. The majority of the newly diagnosed were young with complicated psychosocial issues including unstable housing, addiction, and mental health concerns. VT RP has been able to continue to provide timely care to these people and has worked closely with community partners to exchange information and work to stop the spread of HIV.
Pacific AETC Local Partner, Arizona AETC: University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ
In southeastern Arizona, the only way patients could access emergency non-occupational HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) was to take their chances at one of the local emergency departments. Many emergency departments are unprepared to give patients needing PEP adequate care. Emergency department providers are often unfamiliar with what exposures warrant PEP, what medication regimens should be prescribed, and how to ensure patients can obtain the expensive PEP medication regimens. In order to address this gap in service, Arizona AETC began working with the university infectious disease clinic and emergency department to identify ways to improve access to PEP. [Read more…] about Pacific AETC Local Partner, Arizona AETC: University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ
Pacific AETC Local Partner, Arizona AETC: University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ
Arizona AETC is the only organization in the state that provides clinical training on HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). Because of this, Arizona AETC PrEP trainings are in high demand. Since July 2016, AETC has conducted 12 PrEP trainings for over 334 health professionals. The PrEP trainings were conducted in a variety of settings including community health centers, private primary care offices, university campus health clinics, health departments, Planned Parenthood, and large regional clinical update trainings. [Read more…] about Pacific AETC Local Partner, Arizona AETC: University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ
New England AETC Rhode Island Regional Partner (RI RP): The Miriam Hospital of Rhode Island, Providence, RI
RI RP reached out to clinics that provide healthcare services to minority populations. Technical assistance (TA) encounters with Clinica Esperanza and the RI Free Clinic on HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and HIV/STD testing increased provider knowledge and opened a dialogue about strengthening the referral process to the Miriam Hospital Immunology center to better track newly diagnosed patients. Changes were made to the Miriam Hospital STD Clinic’s intake form to document patient referrals. RI RP provided PrEP information sheets to increase provider knowledge and encourage PrEP prescriptions for patients at higher risk for HIV. In addition, RI RP conducted PrEP education at the RI Adult Correctional Institute and provided clinical consultation to the Department of Correction’s medical director. Future initiatives are planned to implement PrEP referral and navigation programs for persons engaged in the criminal justice system.
Pacific AETC Local Partner, Hawai`i AETC: University of Hawai`i, Manoa Honolulu, HI
Hawai’i has long been blessed with a cadre of individuals who have made long-term commitments to the marginalized people of the region stretching back to Father Damien of Molokai and beyond. Dr. Drew Kovach is one such individual who shares that commitment. He devoted himself to HIV care in Hawaii, as well as in the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Island Jurisdictions when the first cases of HIV were diagnosed in Hawaii. [Read more…] about Pacific AETC Local Partner, Hawai`i AETC: University of Hawai`i, Manoa Honolulu, HI