Webinar 3 — Moving Patients Along the HIV Care Continuum and Beyond

October 19, 2016

This HRSA webinar about Successful Interventions in Improving Linkages to Care and Addressing HCV Comorbidity and Coinfection features two evidence-informed HIV care model interventions implemented in Louisiana and Missouri, across two Care Continuum stages.

This Webinar is the third in a series titled Moving Patients Along the HIV Care Continuum and Beyond, by HRSA’s HIV/AIDS Bureau Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Integrating HIV Innovative Practices (IHIP) Project. This series features successful HRSA SPNS grantees sharing evidence-informed care model interventions, lessons learned, replication tips, and stories from the field for others looking to implement similar interventions within their clinic or community.

This webinar series aimed to:

Inform Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program providers and other service providers about SPNS intervention models;
Identify steps for replicating featured Care Continuum intervention models in HIV care and ancillary service settings; and
Discuss challenges and other lessons learned in incorporating evidence-informed models into routine practice.

Featured Presenters and Interventions

Louisiana Public Health Information Exchange (LaPHIE) Intervention

Louisiana State University Health Science Center and Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, Office of Public Health
Presenter: DeAnn Gruber, PhD

DeAnn Gruber, PhD, is the Director of the Bureau of Infectious Diseases for the Louisiana Department of Health, Office of Public Health. She has worked in the field of HIV/AIDS for more than 25 years and her areas of expertise include program administration, policy, and evaluation. Dr. Gruber is also the current Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD).

Dr. Gruber discussed the steps taken to establish and test a bi-directional public health information data system using surveillance data and real-time electronic medical record (EMR) hospital system data. The model, known as LaPHIE, is used to identify –and offer the opportunity to link– otherwise hard-to-reach persons into HIV care and treatment.

Hepatitis Treatment Expansion Initiative

Washington University School of Medicine
Presenter: Tawnya Brown, MSW

Tawnya Brown is the HIV Program Director for Washington University Infectious Diseases (WU ID) Clinic, as well as Director of Operations for WU sister program Project ARK. In this role Ms. Brown provides administrative oversight of WU ID's Ryan White Part C grant, coordination of the clinic’s consumer advisory board (CAB), and management of the wraparound services offered in the clinic to support persons living with HIV/AIDS. Ms. Brown has 19 years of experience working in HIV-related positions, and has held multiple leadership positions in the Metro St. Louis HIV Health Services Planning Council – currently, Co-Chair of the Needs Assessment and Comprehensive Planning Committee. She joined WU ID Clinic in 2001.

Brown discussed creating a multidisciplinary hepatitis C (HCV) team and creating a co-infection clinic within a larger HIV setting. Brown discussed steps for improving HCV screening, implementation of an integrated care model, and providing wraparound services to HIV/HCV co-infected clients to minimize barriers to HCV care.