TITLE:
Routine Screening for HIV Infection in a Low Risk Population
AUTHORS:
Mary Bessesen, Patricia Stamper, James Shaw, Neelam Ojha, Anthony Currans, Don Weinshenker, Daniel Merrick
KEYWORDS:
HIV; HIV Infection; Screening
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Infectious Diseases,
Vol.2 No.2,
June
20,
2012
ABSTRACT: Context: Despite advances in therapy for HIV infection, treatment is often compromised by delayed diagnosis. Strate-gies are needed to improve broad based testing in all medical settings. Objective: To compare HIV screening rates in a primary care setting following implementation of an electronic reminder system to rates produced solely by provider educational efforts. Design: Prospective, observational study of HIV screening, comparing rates during implementation of strategies. Setting: Multiple clinic healthcare system affiliated with a tertiary care medical center. Patients: Veterans receiving care in the clinics affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs-Eastern Colorado Healthcare System. Intervention: Provider education and a provider clinical reminder system embedded in the electronic medical record. Main Outcome Measure: Proportion of primary care clinic appointments at which the veteran was screened for HIV infection. Results: The proportion of visits at which screening occurred increased from 2.7% during the provider edu-cation period to 16.7% during the provider clinical reminder period (p