Outcomes and costs of publicly funded patient navigation interventions to enhance HIV care continuum outcomes in the United States: A before-and-after study.

Background: In the United States, patients with HIV face significant barriers to linkage to and retention in care which impede the necessary steps toward achieving the desired clinical outcome of viral suppression. Individual-level interventions, such as patient navigation, are evidence based, effective strategies for improving care engagement. In addition, use of surveillance and clinical data to identify patients who are not fully engaged in care may improve the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of these programs.

Health information technology interventions and engagement in HIV care and achievement of viral suppression in publicly funded settings in the US: A cost-effectiveness analysis.

Background: The US National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) emphasizes the use of technology to facilitate coordination of comprehensive care for people with HIV. We examined cost-effectiveness from the health system perspective of 6 health information technology (HIT) interventions implemented during 2008 to 2012 in a Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Program demonstration project.

Methods/findings: HIT interventions were implemented at 6 sites: Bronx, New York; Durham, North Carolina; Long Beach, California; New Orleans, Louisiana; New York, New York (2 sites); and Paterson, New Jersey.

Implementation science and the Health Resources and Services Administration's Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program's work towards ending the HIV epidemic in the United States.

Demetrios Psihopaidas and co-authors discuss the implementation science framework of an HIV/AIDS program in the United States.

From Theory to Application: A Description of Transnationalism in Culturally-Appropriate HIV Interventions of Outreach, Access, and Retention Among Latino/a Populations.

Interventions aiming to improve access to and retention in HIV care are optimized when they are tailored to clients' needs. This paper describes an initiative of interventions implemented by ten demonstration sites using a transnational framework to tailor services for Mexicans and Puerto Ricans living with HIV. Transnationalism describes how immigrants (and their children) exist in their "receiving" place (e.

Policy implications of integrating buprenorphine/naloxone treatment and HIV care.

Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers have long recognized the potential benefits of providing integrated substance abuse and medical care services, particularly for special populations such as people living with HIV/AIDS. Buprenorphine, an office-based pharmacological treatment for opioid dependence, offers new opportunities for integrating drug treatment into HIV care settings. However, the historical separation between the drug treatment and medical care systems has resulted in a host of policy barriers.

HIV treatment outcomes among HIV-infected, opioid-dependent patients receiving buprenorphine/naloxone treatment within HIV clinical care settings: results from a multisite study.

Background: Having opioid dependence and HIV infection are associated with poor HIV-related treatment outcomes.

Methods: HIV-infected, opioid-dependent subjects (N = 295) recruited from 10 clinical sites initiated buprenorphine/naloxone (BUP/NX) and were assessed at baseline and quarterly for 12 months. Primary outcomes included receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART), HIV-1 RNA suppression, and mean changes in CD4 lymphocyte count.

A model federal collaborative to increase patient access to buprenorphine treatment in HIV primary care.

A Health Resources and Services Administration-Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration collaboration was established to improve health outcomes for opiate-dependent HIV-infected patients through promotion of integrated models of HIV primary care and substance abuse treatment. The collaboration comprised 10 demonstration sites coordinated by a technical assistance/evaluation center that worked to refine planned interventions, address state-of-the-art treatment and policy issues relating to the use of buprenorphine opioid abuse treatment in HIV primary care settings, conduct local and multisite evaluations, and disseminate program findings. This article describes the goals and objectives of the collaborative as well as the interagency interactions and steps taken to establish the collaborative.

Characteristics associated with retention among African American and Latino adolescent HIV-positive men: results from the outreach, care, and prevention to engage HIV-seropositive young MSM of color special project of national significance initiative.

Background: Surveillance points to an urgent public health need for HIV prevention, access, and retention among young men of color who have sex with men (YMSM). The purpose of this multisite study was to evaluate the association between organizational- and individual-level characteristics and retention in HIV care among HIV-positive YMSM of color.

Methods: Data were collected quarterly via face-to-face interviews and chart abstraction between June 2006 and September 2008.

Estimation of the prevalence of AIDS, opportunistic infections, and standard of care among patients with HIV/AIDS receiving care along the U.S.-Mexico border through the Special Projects of National Significance: a cross-sectional study.

There is high demand for care among the Hispanic population in states along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Guidelines for effective integration of information technology in the care of HIV-infected populations.

Background: Although information technology (IT) plays an increasingly important role in the delivery of healthcare, specific guidelines to assist human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) care settings in adopting IT are lacking.

Methods: Through the experiences of six Special Projects of National Significance - (SPNS) funded HIV-specific IT interventions, key considerations prior to adoption and evaluation of IT are presented. The purpose of this article is to provide guidelines to consider prior to adoption and evaluation of IT in HIV care settings.