When compared to other health service sites, emergency departments (EDs) often encounter a higher percentage of undiagnosed and/or out-of-care HIV cases among their patient populations. This is an opportunity for getting people engaged into HIV services. ED patients, after all, are probably showing up in the ER because they lack a primary care provider.
Rapid ART in EHE Jurisdictions
Tarrant County (Dallas-Fort Worth), Texas, is one of multiple sites around the country that has developed HIV testing and Rapid ART in an ED setting order to get newly-diagnosed patients on antiretroviral regimens as soon as possible. Tarrant County initiated the work with the support of the HRSA-funded TAP-in technical assistance project for HRSA-funded Ending the HIV Epidemic jurisdictions. Their process is summarized in the case study, Rapid ART implementation in an emergency department in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, which describes the work group that was formed to drive the process to put a Rapid ART project in place at the JPS Health System Emergency Department.
Implementing Rapid ART
The case study references steps taken to put the program in place, including:
- Gaining buy-in from ED leadership.
- Identification of champions to advocate for the project.
- Educating ED staff about HIV and Rapid ART.
- Hiring a patient navigator to help link patients to care.
- Securing 30-day antiretroviral medications for newly-diagnosed patients pending access to insurance coverage.
- Data tracking and clinical quality management.
For detailed insights into a protocol for establishing a rapid ART project, see Rapid ART: An Essential Strategy for Ending the HIV Epidemic. See also our full collection of resources on rapid ART.
Tarrant County's work on Rapid ART in the ED has been underway for a number of years. In addition to the case study, the project has been featured in the following National Ryan White Conference presentations:
- 2024: A Rapid ART Collaboration in an Emergency Department to End the HIV Epidemic
- 2022: Collaborating and Innovating with Emergency Departments to End the HIV Epidemic: Experiences from Tarrant County
Learn more and access TAP-in technical assistance and capacity building to HRSA-funded EHE jurisdictions.
Emergency Departments
See more of our resources on Emergency Departments:
- Innovations in the ER: Collaborations among Emergency Departments, TA Providers, & Health Jurisdictions to Identify and Treat HIV, HCV, and Syphilis (September 2024 TAP-in webinar)
- Collaborations among AETCs, Emergency Departments, and Health Jurisdictions to Identify and Treat HIV, HCV, and Syphilis (2020 National Ryan White Conference)
- Kern County Rapid ART (Best Practices)