Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Comparing Cost-Effectiveness Of Hiv Testing Strategies: Targeted And Routine Testing In Washington, Dc., Amanda D Castel, Sungwoog Choi, Avi Dor, Jennifer Skillicorn, James Peterson, Nestor Rocha, Michael Kharfen

Health Policy and Management Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Routine HIV testing is an essential approach to identifying undiagnosed infections, linking people to care and treatment, and preventing new infections. In Washington, DC, where HIV prevalence is 2.4%, a combination of routine and targeted testing approaches has been implemented since 2006.

METHODS: We sought to evaluate the cost effectiveness of the District of Columbia (DC) Department of Health's routine and targeted HIV testing implementation strategies. We collected HIV testing data from 3 types of DC Department of Health-funded testing sites (clinics, hospitals, and community-based organizations); collected testing and labor costs; and calculated effectiveness measures including cost per new …

Hiv Testing Implementation In Two Urban Cities: Practice, Policy And Perceived Barriers, Camden J. Hallmark, Jennifer Skillicorn, Thomas P. Giordano, Jessica A. Davila, Marlene Mcneese, Nestor Rocha, Avemaria Smith, Stacey Cooper, Amanda D. Castel

Epidemiology Faculty Publications

Background

Although funding has supported the scale up of routine, opt-out HIV testing in the US, variance in implementation mechanisms and barriers in high-burden jurisdictions remains unknown.

Methods

We conducted a survey of health care organizations in Washington, DC and Houston/Harris County to determine number of HIV tests completed in 2011, policy and practices associated with HIV testing, funding mechanisms, and reported barriers to testing in each jurisdiction and to compare results between jurisdictions.

Results

In 2012, 43 Houston and 35 DC HIV-testing organizations participated in the survey. Participants represented 85% of Department of Health-supported testers in DC and 90% …