Telehealth

Telehealth is the provision of medical services at a distance via technology. Telehealth has been around for several decades and includes a wide range of methods (e.g., phone, video conferencing, text messaging, mobile apps). Telehealth is used for clinician/client appointments as well as clinician-to-clinician consultations. Telehealth can help break down challenges like transportation and patient stigma fears over going to an HIV care site. 

Learn more at Telehealth.hhs.gov and HRSA Telehealth Programs

Best Practices

  • Best Practices Compilation
    Through the Practice Transformation Project, the Native American Community Clinic and Midwest AIDS Education and Training Center developed strategies to increase testing and linkage to care within the American Indian/Alaska Native population, and for those who inject drugs and are experiencing homelessness. These ongoing efforts have increased HIV testing rates by 10 percentage points through harm reduction, community outreach, and culturally sensitive strategies.
  • Best Practices Compilation
    The University of Nebraska Medical Center/Nebraska Medicine (UNMC/NM) Specialty Care Center (SCC) is the largest provider of comprehensive HIV care—including primary and HIV-focused medical services as well as multiple support services—in Nebraska. In March 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the clinic integrated telehealth into its care delivery model to continue serving patients beyond the clinic structure, and developed algorithms that allowed any team member to quickly identify a patient's eligibility for a telehealth visit. The algorithms include the date of the most recent office visit, stability of HIV disease, most recent viral load and CD4 count, and antiretroviral therapy (ART) refill histories as a proxy for medication adherence. Overall, viral suppression rates remained high for all patients regardless of visit type, indicating that telehealth is a successful alternative to in-person visits for providing HIV care.

Resources

Webinars

Conference Presentations

Meharry Community Wellness Center
Presenters:
Vladimir Berthaud, Michael Caldwell, Livette Johnson, Toni Hall
2022 National Ryan White Conference on HIV Care & Treatment
Boston Public Health Commission
Presenters:
Katie Keating, Austin Hanna, Fabiola Catulle
2022 National Ryan White Conference on HIV Care & Treatment
AIDS Institute
Presenters:
Nova West, Daniel Belanger, Nicole Fera, Courtney Ahmed, Zeenath Rehana
2022 National Ryan White Conference on HIV Care & Treatment
MUSC
Presenters:
Marty Player, Nicole Cooper, Darin King, Vanessa Diaz
2022 National Ryan White Conference on HIV Care & Treatment
Nebraska Medicine
Presenters:
Nada Fadul, Nichole Regan, Laura Krajewski
2022 National Ryan White Conference on HIV Care & Treatment

Technical Assistance

  • TAP-in supports the 47 EHE jurisdictions funded by HRSA to strengthen their EHE work plans, promote cross-jurisdictional learning, and ensure jurisdictions have access to the resources they need. Project period: 2020-2025.

  • The AETC Program offers clinician education and tailored capacity-building assistance. Project period: 2019-2024.
  • Initiative documenting best practice strategies and interventions that have been shown to improve HIV outcomes in a "real world" setting and can be replicated by other programs. Project period: 2021-2024.
  • HRSA SPNS project applying the implementation science framework to identify innovative HIV interventions for three priority populations (people with substance use disorder, sexual minority youth, people involved in criminal justice system) and use of telehealth. Project period: 2021-2025.
  • Identify and maximize the use of telehealth strategies that are most effective in HIV care. Project period: 2022-2025.