Category: Federal Forum Posters
Purpose: In Veterans infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), research shows that those who are adherent to treatment, maintain undetectable viral loads, and remain engaged with their healthcare providers sustain longer lives with reduced transmission of HIV. Veterans who are diagnosed and have prolonged breaks in care may result in loss of viral control. Currently, there is no routine process to identify Veterans who are at risk for loss to follow-up. The development of a clinical tool that detects vulnerable Veterans early in the process of falling out of care may improve outcomes for these Veterans in this quality-improvement project.
Methods: The Veterans Health Administration utilizes the Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW) to house clinical data. This dashboard will be built using local information within the CDW that is specific to a Veterans Affairs Medical Center and its associated clinics. Access to this tool will be restricted to only users with clinical permissions.
For inclusion within the dashboard, a query will be designed to return all Veterans who are receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) associated with an HIV-based diagnosis code (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision [ICD-10] codes B20–B24). Veterans at risk of loss to follow-up will be filtered based on adherence to medications, lack of lab results, and missed healthcare appointments. The query results will then be organized into a viewable dashboard built via Report Builder and will include other patient characteristics for assessment including patient identifiers, ART regimen, medication possession statistics, lab results, and upcoming appointments. The clinical pharmacist will use this tool to help Veterans by ordering refills, placing lab orders, scheduling appointments, and consulting for social work services. Regular assessment of this tool will be implemented, and the number of Veterans contacted for prevention of loss to follow-up will be recorded for this quality-improvement project.
Results: not applicable
Conclusion: not applicable
Tho Nguyen
– PGY1 Pharmacy Resident, Orlando VAMC, Orlando, FL132 Views