Outcomes of an Emergency Department Program to Identify and Link Patients at Increased Risk for Acquiring HIV Infection to Outpatient HIV Prevention Services: The HIV PreventED Program
10.1097/QAI.0000000000003418Emergency departments (EDs) provide care to patients at increased risk for acquiring HIV, and for many of them, the ED serves as their sole point of entry into the healthcare system. HIV PreventED Program was implemented to increase access to HIV prevention services for ED patients. In this study, 1233 patients who tested HIV negative were assessed by the navigator and received ED-based HIV prevention counseling. Conclusion: A navigator focused on providing ED-based HIV prevention counseling and linkage to outpatient services is feasible. Strategies to more efficiently identify ED patients at higher risk for HIV acquisition, such as automated identification of risk data from the electronic health record, and policies to improve follow-up and the receipt of PrEP, such as same-day PrEP initiation, should be prospectively evaluated.

