1. Evolution and Escalation of an Emergency Department Routine, Opt-out HIV Screening and Linkage-to-Care Program
- Author
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Joel B. Rodgers, Kelly L. Ross-Davis, Andrew O. Westfall, Sonya L. Heath, John P. Donnelly, James W. Galbraith, and James H. Willig
- Subjects
Adult ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Pediatrics ,Adolescent ,HIV Infections ,Hiv testing ,Opt-out ,Young Adult ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,medicine ,Humans ,Mass Screening ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Program Development ,Young adult ,Mass screening ,Emergency Department Settings ,Routine screening ,Diagnostic Tests, Routine ,business.industry ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,AIDS Serodiagnosis ,030208 emergency & critical care medicine ,HIV screening ,Emergency department ,Continuity of Patient Care ,Middle Aged ,Patient Acceptance of Health Care ,Family medicine ,Alabama ,Emergency Service, Hospital ,Care program ,business - Abstract
Objective. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended emergency department (ED) opt-out HIV screening since 2006. Routine screening can prove challenging due to the ED's complexity and competing priorities. This study examined the implementation and evolution of a routine, integrated, opt-out HIV screening program at an urban academic ED in Alabama since August 2011. Methods. ED routine, opt-out HIV screening was implemented as a standard of care in September 2011. To describe the outcomes and escalation of the screening program, data analyses were performed from three separate data queries: ( 1) encounter-level HIV screening questionnaire and test results from September 21, 2011, through December 31, 2013; ( 2) test-level, fourth-generation HIV results from July 9 through December 31, 2013; and ( 3) daily HIV testing rates and trends from September 9, 2011, through June 30, 2014. Results. Of the 46,385 HIV screening tests performed, 252 (0.5%) were confirmed to be positive. Acute HIV infection accounted for 11.8% of all HIV patients identified using the fourth-generation HIV screening assay. Seventy-six percent of confirmed HIV-positive patients had successful linkage to care. Implementation of fourth-generation HIV instrument-based testing resulted in a 15.0% decline in weekly HIV testing rates. Displacement of nursing provider HIV test offers from triage to the bedside resulted in a 31.6% decline in weekly HIV testing rates. Conclusion. This program demonstrated the capacity for high-volume, routine, opt-out HIV screening. Evolving ED challenges require program monitoring and adaptation to sustain scalable HIV screening in EDs.
- Published
- 2016
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