Prevention of HIV Transmission Via Viral Load Suppression at County Run Health Centers

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2015

On June 29, 2014 Governor Cuomo introduced the “Bending the Curve” plan to end the AIDS epidemic in New York State. Part of the plan calls for maximizing viral load (VL) suppression (VLS) to prevent further transmission of HIV, especially during high-risk sexual behavior, including condomless sex. Maximizing VLS greatly reduces the transmission of HIV, while allowing persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) to live longer and healthier lives. This strategy maximizing VLS to prevent HIV transmission is known as “treatment as prevention.” In the third quarter of 2013, VLS rates at the six (6) SCDHS operated health centers were sub-optimal at 50%. To pro-actively improve VLS in our PLWHA, in October 2013, the Suffolk County (SC) Department of Health Services (SCDHS) implemented two system-wide quality improvement (QI) projects and six health center specific continuous quality improvement (CQI) projects, all aimed at maximizing VLS in our PLWHA. During this project four (4) SCDHS operated health centers were transitioned to a federally qualified health center (FQHC) operator. All SC operated health centers dramatically improved their VLS rates while participating in the program with the remaining two (2) SCDHS operated improving their VLS to 84% by December 31, 2014.