Serving a 24-county region in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and the panhandle of West Virginia, our Early Intervention Services (EIS) program funded under Title III of the Ryan White CARE Act utilizes HIV-experienced physicians, a nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant, social worker, and on-site pharmacist, gynecologist, and psychiatrist provide outpatient and inpatient medical care for over 700 patients with HIV disease. Approximately 30% of patients are African American and 27% women. We assembled and used an integrated data set comprised of several databases, including a Medical Archival System (MARS), COMPIS, medical records, and city- and county-based demographics to examine outcomes at EIS during the 2-year period 1997-98. We stratified patient data by age, gender, race, risk factor, census tract, CD4 count, VL, income level, insurance carrier, inpatient admissions, outpatient visits, and charges associated with these events. We addressed the following: Did EIS patients come from groups disproportionately infected with HIV and less likely to have access to healthcare? Was high quality care delivered, as evidenced by prompt initiation of HAART and OI prophylaxis? Were barriers removed for underserved populations? Did immunologic markers improve? Was there a reduction in mortality? Did EIS adapt to managed care constraints without compromising care? Preliminary findings will be presented.
Learning Objectives: At the end of this session, the participant will be able to: List outcomes evaluations methods; Describe methods of conducting outcomes evaluations; and Discuss the results from an outcomes evaluation of an EIS program for PLWHA
Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Outcomes Research
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.