Leveraging mHealth and Patient Supporters for African Americans' and Latinxs' Engagement in HIV Care (LEAN): Protocol for a Randomized, Controlled, Effectiveness-Implementation Trial.

Background: Despite substantial investments in ending the HIV epidemic, disparities in HIV care persist, and there is an urgent need to evaluate novel and scalable approaches to improving HIV care engagement and viral suppression in real-world settings.

Objective: This paper aims to describe a study protocol for a pragmatic type II hybrid effectiveness-implementation randomized controlled trial comparing existing standard of care clinic HIV linkage, adherence, and retention (LAR) protocols to a mobile health (mHealth)-enhanced linkage, adherence, and retention (mLAR) intervention.

Methods: The study will enroll 450 participants from clinics in Baltimore City.