Ryan White Joint Application and Integrated Eligibility

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2017

Maricopa County and the State of Arizona Ryan White Programs developed a joint application for HIV services for clients who are dually enrolled in HIV Services at the state and county level. This improved process decreases the number of applications required from four separate applications a year to one full application and one shortened renewal application annually. Two sets of federal regulations, state and country rules and policies were reviewed and revised during this project. The core application went from 12 pages to 5, with a handful of addendums. Workflow and referral processes were revised to expedite processing time. The successful implementation of integrated eligibility assists these programs in meeting the goal of Ending the HIV Epidemic in Arizona by decreasing the number of individuals who lose their eligibility due to the burden of completing multiple applications for each program. This new joint application process has been implemented in phases between 2014 and 2016, and the process was finalized in February, 2017. This project will decrease administrative burden on clients by allowing them to complete one application for both Ryan White service and medication eligibility. It decreases administrative burden on program staff by allowing both agencies to determine and then share an eligibility status to a HIPAA compliant data system.