News
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day – February 7
–observed each year on February 7 to increase HIV education, testing, community involvement, and treatment among black communities.
In Lieu of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day we are offering Free Anonymous HIV testing for all Uninsured patients made available through the FOCUS group.
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AHL recognizes that as a healthcare provider serving areas where HIV and Hepatitis C cases are ‘on the rise,’ we are partnering with Gilead Sciences, Inc., to successfully implement the FOCUS TEST model’s Four Pillars of Routine Screening. In this way, AHL is committed to normalize attitudes and de-stigmatize screening for blood-born viruses while increasing linkages to appropriate care for our patients. We will be screening for Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, and HIV.
The Pillars are as follows:
• Pillar 1: Integrate testing into normal clinic workflow
• Pillar 2: Utilize Athena EMR to help administer and track testing for patients
• Pillar 3: Optimize the screening process as we learn about barriers to care and challenges to the program
• Pillar 4: Training, feedback and Quality Improvement to track AHL’s progress and implement best practices
The project manager and coordinators will also optimize the outreach of potential patients/clients by using the AHL Mobile Unit to visit community “hotspots” which can help disseminate information on the need for testing and screening. In the same way, we plan to use the screening already in place at our Mexican Consulate location to further extend our reach to specific communities throughout our municipality.
In addition, this project will lay the groundwork for achieving other successful UDS measures by helping AHL streamline implementation and follow-through.
By focusing on integrating prescription needs for patients who are part of the FOCUS Project into our current 340B program, AHL’s goal is to ultimately fund the project internally.
The grant year for the FOCUS PROJECT during which AHL will monitor screenings and report to Gilead Inc., is:
From October 1, 2016 through October 31, 2017
