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Despite the implementation of internet patient portals into the safety net after the introduction of the Affordable Care Act in the United States, little attention has been paid to the process of engaging vulnerable patients into these portals. The portal is a health technology tool that was developed with a mainstream, English-speaking audience in mind. Thus, there are valid concerns that such technologies will actually exacerbate health care disparities, conferring further advantages to the already advantaged. In this paper, we describe a framework for portal engagement (awareness, registration, and use) among safety net patients. We incorporate the experiences in the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services to illustrate important contextual factors for portal outreach in our safety net. Finally, we discuss considerations for moving forward with health technology in the safety net as the next version of patient portals are being developed.

BackgroundBeginning in 2010, Los Angeles County Departments of Health Services and Mental Health collaborated to increase access to effective mental health care. The Mental Health Integration Program (MHIP) embedded behavioral health specialists in primary care clinics to deliver brief, problem-focused treatments, and psychiatric consultation support for primary care-prescribed psychotropic medications.ObjectiveThe aim was to compare primary care visits associated with psychiatric diagnoses before and after MHIP implementation.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study (2009-2014) examined 62,945 patients from 8 safety-net clinics that implemented MHIP in a staggered manner in Los Angeles. Patients' primary care visits (n=695,354) were either associated or not with a previously identified or "new" (defined as having no diagnosis within the prior year) psychiatric diagnosis. Multilevel regression models used MHIP implementation to predict odds of visits being associated with psychiatric diagnoses, controlling for time, clinic, and patient characteristics.Results9.4% of visits were associated with psychiatric diagnoses (6.4% depression, 3.1% anxiety,

ObjectivesDriven by beneficial patient-centered outcomes associated with patient portal use and the Affordable Care Act, portal implementation has expanded into safety nets-health systems that offer access to care to a large share of uninsured, Medicaid, and other vulnerable populations. However, little attention has been paid to the factors that affect portal accessibility by the vulnerable patients served by these health systems-including those who are limited English proficient (LEP).Materials and methodsThe Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LAC DHS), the second-largest safety net system in the nation, launched its first patient portal, and one of the few bilingual English-Spanish interfaces in existence, in March of 2015. To explore portal awareness and perceptions, we conducted focus groups with LAC DHS patients, in English and Spanish (LEP). The Technology Acceptance Model was used to guide thematic analysis of focus group data.ResultsOf the 46 participants, 37 were patients and 9 were caretakers; 23 were English-speaking and 23 Spanish-speaking LEP. All patients had diabetes or hypertension. Over half had an annual household income

ObjectiveWe describe the rationale, development, and progress on the Community and Patient Partnered Research Network (CPPRN). The CPPRN builds on more than a decade of partnered work and is designed to promote health equity by developing partnered research on behavioral health and social risk factors in Los Angeles and New Orleans.SettingA community-academic partnership across Los Angeles County and New Orleans.MethodsReview of rationale, history, structure, activities and progress in applying community partnered participatory research (CPPR) to CPPRN.FindingsPatient and community stakeholders participated in all phases of development, including local and national activities. Key developments include partnered planning efforts, progress on aggregating a large, de-identified dataset across county agencies, and development of an information technology-supported screening approach for behavioral and social determinants in health care, social, and community-based settings.ConclusionThe CPPRN represents a promising approach for research data networks, balancing the potential benefit of information technology and data analytic approaches while addressing potential risks and priorities of relevant stakeholders.

Background and importanceChallenges in healthcare policy and practice have stimulated interest in dissemination and implementation science. The Institute of Medicine Committee on the Clinical Translational Science Award (CTSA) program recommended expanding the CTSA program's investment and activity in this domain. Guidance is needed to facilitate successful growth of DII science infrastructure, activity and impacts.ObjectivesSeveral CTSAs in Southern California collaborated to identify and respond to local challenges and opportunities to expand dissemination, implementation and improvement research by strengthening capacity and relationships between DII researchers and community, health system, and population health partners.Main outcomesPlanning and outreach by the Southern California CTSAs increased awareness and interest in DII research and generated recommendations for growth. Recommendations include: increasing strong partnerships with healthcare and population health systems to guide policy research agendas and collaborative DII science; promoting multi-sector partnerships that involve researchers and delivery systems throughout DII processes; bringing together multiple disciplines; and addressing national and international barriers as well as opportunities in DII science.ImplicationsCTSAs through regional collaboration can increase their contributions to improved community health via skill-building, partnership development and enhanced outreach to local healthcare and public health agencies and delivery systems.

ObjectiveTo understand the health care access issues faced by Los Angeles (LA) County's uninsured and residually uninsured after implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and to identify potential solutions using a community-partnered dialogue.DesignQualitative study using a community-partnered participatory research framework.SettingCommunity forum breakout discussion.DiscussantsRepresentatives from LA County health care agencies, community health care provider organizations, local community advocacy and service organizations including uninsured individuals, and the county school district.Main outcome measuresKey structural and overarching value themes identified through community-partnered pile sort, c-coefficients measuring overlap between themes.ResultsFive overarching value themes were identified - knowledge, trust, quality, partnership, and solutions. Lack of knowledge and misinformation were identified as barriers to successful enrollment of the eligible uninsured and providing health care to undocumented individuals. Discussants noted dissatisfaction with the quality of traditional sources of health care and a broken cycle of trust and disengagement. They also described inherent trust by the uninsured in "outsider" community-based providers not related to quality.ConclusionsImproving health care for the residually uninsured after ACA implementation will require addressing dissatisfaction in safety-net providers, disseminating knowledge and providing health care through trusted nontraditional sources, and using effective and trusted partnerships between community and health care agencies with mutual respect. Community-academic partnerships can be a trusted conduit to discuss issues related to the health care of vulnerable populations.

In September 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the "Revised Recommendations for HIV Testing of Adults, Adolescents, and Pregnant Women in Health-care Settings" to improve screening and diagnosis. The CDC now recommends that all patients in all health care settings be offered opt-out HIV screening without separate written consent and prevention counseling. State law on HIV testing is widely assumed to be a barrier to implementing the recommendations. To help policymakers and providers better understand their own legal context and to correct possible misunderstandings about statutory compatibility, a state-by-state review (including Washington, DC) of all statutes pertaining to HIV testing was performed and the consistency of these laws with the new recommendations was systematically assessed. Criteria were developed for classifying state statutory frameworks as consistent, neutral, or inconsistent with the new recommendations, and the implications for implementation of the CDC recommendations in these various legal contexts were examined. The statutory frameworks of 34 states and Washington, DC, were found to be either consistent with or neutral to the new CDC recommendations, which would enable full implementation. Statutory frameworks of 16 states were inconsistent with the new CDC recommendations, which would preclude implementation of 1 or more of the novel provisions without legislative change. In the 2 years since release of the recommendations, 9 states have passed new legislation to move from being inconsistent to consistent with the guidelines. State statutory laws are evolving toward greater compliance with the CDC recommendations. Policymakers, provider groups, consumer advocates, and other stakeholders should ensure that HIV screening practices comply with existing state law and work to amend inconsistent laws if they are interested in implementing the CDC recommendations.

A retrospective cohort study was conducted to examine the capability and clinical utility of total lymphocyte count (TLC) changes as a surrogate marker for CD4 count change while monitoring patients with HAART that has important implications for resource-limited settings. Results indicate that the variability could be reduced and the predictive accuracy could be improved by taking multiple readings of TLC at frequent intervals.

Research has been conducted on CD4 cell count testing. The correlation of total lymphocyte count to CD4 count has been evaluated and the range of total lymphocyte count cutoffs has been determined for opportunistic infection prophylaxis initiation, and the details are reported.

Most changes in body composition in female HIV patients taking highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) occur within the first year and usually stabilize after 2.5 years. However, blood levels of fats and cholesterol become elevated, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Despite the HIV 'test-and-treat' strategy's promise, questions about its clinical rationale, operational feasibility, and ethical appropriateness have led to vigorous debate in the global HIV community. We performed a systematic review of the literature published between January 2009 and May 2012 using PubMed, SCOPUS, Global Health, Web of Science, BIOSIS, Cochrane CENTRAL, EBSCO Africa-Wide Information, and EBSCO CINAHL Plus databases to summarize clinical uncertainties, health service challenges, and ethical complexities that may affect the test-and-treat strategy's success. A thoughtful approach to research and implementation to address clinical and health service questions and meaningful community engagement regarding ethical complexities may bring us closer to safe, feasible, and effective test-and-treat implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]