New Online Resource Helps Health Professionals Link Newly-Diagnosed HIV Patients to Quality Care
AAHIVM Launches Referral Link in Six Pilot Cities
Washington, DC: The American Academy
of HIV Medicine (AAHIVM), through funding from the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC), has launched a pilot referral resource for health providers
that routinely offer HIV testing as a normal part of medical practice. Housed on the AAHIVM Web site
(www.aahivm.org), Referral Link is designed to provide referral information for
all HIV service providers in each of the six pilot cities. The cities include Baton
Rouge,
LA; Cochise County,
AZ; Cleveland, OH; Columbia, SC; Sacramento, CA; and Tampa,
FL. For these cities, information for all HIV
medical care providers in the area is available. The contact information,
provider Website, referral, and practice information for each provider is
listed.
Additionally, the information is truncated
and searchable by patient type and services provided. Referral Link also allows for
narrowing of search functions by all of the categories, such as case
management, Medicaid availability and confirmatory testing services.
“This resource will give those
providers that are following the CDC’s HIV testing recommendations the tool
they need to ensure that their newly-diagnosed patients will be linked to care
from a quality HIV care provider,” said Donna Sweet, MD, MACP, AAHIVS, chair of
the Board of Director for AAHIVM.
In 2006, CDC released “Revised
Recommendations for HIV Testing of Adults, Adolescents, and Pregnant Women, in
Health-Care Settings.” These recommendations
advise voluntary routine HIV screening of adults, adolescents, and pregnant
women ages 13-64 in health care settings in the United States. While many have implemented HIV testing as a
standard of care, some medical providers, particularly general practitioners,
have not widely adopted and implemented the recommendations, because of concerns
of not being able to link an HIV-infected individual to HIV primary care
services.
Referral Link seeks to
target these allied health professionals who identify an HIV case among their
patient population, and need to refer that patient to another practice. It is
also useful for HIV specialists and patients looking for referrals to other
areas of HIV-related care or supportive services, or to other providers in a
given region.
“Ultimately, we would like to geographically
expand this service and offer it as a resource to health-care providers across
the country,” said James A. Friedman, executive director of AAHIVM. “We believe
this tool will boost the HIV-testing rate and at the end of the day, save lives.”