Using HIV Surveillance Registry Data to Re-Link Persons to Care: The RSVP Project in San Francisco

PLOS ONE, Dec 2019

Background Persons with unsuppressed HIV viral load (VL) who disengage from care may experience poor clinical outcomes and potentially transmit HIV. We assessed the feasibility and yield of using the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) enhanced HIV surveillance system (eHARS) to identify and re-engage such persons in care. Methods Using SFDPH eHARS data as of 4/20/2012 (index date), we selected HIV-infected adults who were alive, had no reported VL or CD4 cell count results in the past nine months (proxy for “out-of-care”) and a VL >200 copies/mL drawn nine to 15 months earlier. We prioritized cases residing locally for investigation, and used information from eHARS and medical and public health databases to contact them for interview and referral to the SFDPH linkage services (LINCS). Twelve months later, we matched-back to eHARS data to assess how HIV laboratory reporting delays affected original eligibility, and if persons had any HIV laboratory results performed and reported within 12 months after index date (‘new labs’). Results Among 434 eligible persons, 282 were prioritized for investigation, of whom 75 (27%) were interviewed, 79 (28%) could not be located, and 48 (17%) were located out of the area. Among the interviewed, 54 (72%) persons accepted referral to LINCS. Upon match-back to eHARS data, 324 (75%) in total were confirmed as eligible, including 221 (78%) of the investigated; most had new labs. Conclusions Among the investigated persons presumed out-of-care, we interviewed and offered LINCS referral to about one-quarter, demonstrating the feasibility but limited yield of our project. Matching to updated surveillance data revealed that a substantial minority did not disengage from care and that most re-engaged in HIV care. Verifying persons’ HIV care status with medical providers and improving timeliness of transfer and cross-jurisdictional sharing of HIV laboratory data may aid future efforts.

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Using HIV Surveillance Registry Data to Re-Link Persons to Care: The RSVP Project in San Francisco

March Using HIV Surveillance Registry Data to Re- Link Persons to Care: The RSVP Project in San Francisco Kate Buchacz 0 1 Miao-Jung Chen 0 1 Maree Kay Parisi 0 1 Maya Yoshida-Cervantes 0 1 Erin Antunez 0 1 Viva Delgado 0 1 Nicholas J. Moss 0 1 Susan Scheer 0 1 0 1 Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America, 2 San Francisco Department of Public Health , San Francisco , California, United States of America, 3 Alameda County Public Health Department , Oakland, California , United States of America 1 Academic Editor: Patrick S Sullivan, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University , UNITED STATES - Data Availability Statement: Because of legal restrictions and the confidential nature of HIV surveillance data, public health authorities cannot release individual-level data on reported HIV cases. However, results presented in the manuscript tables and text are available to others for use. The SFDPH staff are also available to assist external researchers who may have further specific data questions or uses. Please contact Dr. Susan Scheer at Susan. with requests for additional information. A minimal de-identified dataset needed to replicate manuscript findings can be made Persons with unsuppressed HIV viral load (VL) who disengage from care may experience poor clinical outcomes and potentially transmit HIV. We assessed the feasibility and yield of using the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) enhanced HIV surveillance system (eHARS) to identify and re-engage such persons in care. Using SFDPH eHARS data as of 4/20/2012 (index date), we selected HIV-infected adults who were alive, had no reported VL or CD4 cell count results in the past nine months (proxy for out-of-care) and a VL >200 copies/mL drawn nine to 15 months earlier. We prioritized cases residing locally for investigation, and used information from eHARS and medical and public health databases to contact them for interview and referral to the SFDPH linkage services (LINCS). Twelve months later, we matched-back to eHARS data to assess how HIV laboratory reporting delays affected original eligibility, and if persons had any HIV laboratory results performed and reported within 12 months after index date (new labs). Among 434 eligible persons, 282 were prioritized for investigation, of whom 75 (27%) were interviewed, 79 (28%) could not be located, and 48 (17%) were located out of the area. Among the interviewed, 54 (72%) persons accepted referral to LINCS. Upon match-back to eHARS data, 324 (75%) in total were confirmed as eligible, including 221 (78%) of the investigated; most had new labs. Among the investigated persons presumed out-of-care, we interviewed and offered LINCS referral to about one-quarter, demonstrating the feasibility but limited yield of our project. Funding: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides funding to the San Francisco Department of Public Health and to other state and local health departments in the United States to conduct surveillance of HIV disease in accordance with their own disease reporting regulations. CDC provides technical guidance for the collection of data by the state and local health departments and data are sent to CDC for nationallevel analyses. Aside from CDC's support to surveillance of HIV disease, the authors received no specific funding for this work. Role of the Sponsors: The CDC reviewed and approved final submission but the findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the CDC. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Matching to updated surveillance data revealed that a substantial minority did not disengage from care and that most re-engaged in HIV care. Verifying persons HIV care status with medical providers and improving timeliness of transfer and cross-jurisdictional sharing of HIV laboratory data may aid future efforts. The benefits of combination antiretroviral therapy (ART), both for preserving the health of infected persons and for preventing further HIV transmission, have been well established [13] and support high-impact combination prevention strategies [47] to reduce the burden of HIV/AIDS in the United States (US). As such, the Department of Health and Human Services released revised recommendations in 2012 that all HIV-infected persons initiate ART regardless of immunologic status [8]. Realizing individual- and population-level benefits of ART depends on timely diagnosis of HIV infection followed by linkage to and continuous engagement in care. National analyses of the continuum of HIV care indicate that substantial proportions of HIV-infected persons are either unaware of their infection or, if aware, fail to stay engaged in care. Nati (...truncated)


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Kate Buchacz, Miao-Jung Chen, Maree Kay Parisi, Maya Yoshida-Cervantes, Erin Antunez, Viva Delgado, Nicholas J. Moss, Susan Scheer. Using HIV Surveillance Registry Data to Re-Link Persons to Care: The RSVP Project in San Francisco, PLOS ONE, 2015, Volume 10, Issue 3, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118923