Webinar: Increasing Rates of Virologic Suppression: Promising Practices from HIV Health Improvement Affinity Group States
Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017 | 2:30 to 4 pm EST
Increasing rates of virologic suppression among people living with HIV is critically important to improving their quality of life and decreasing the risk of further HIV transmission. For the last 12 months, the HIV Health Improvement Affinity Group has worked with state health departments and Medicaid agencies from 19 states to develop and implement performance improvement projects aimed at improving rates of sustained virologic suppression among Medicaid beneficiaries living with HIV. This webinar featured leaders from the Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy in the US Department of Health & Human Services, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It also featured Affinity Group states, Alaska and North Carolina, that shared lessons learned and best practices from their performance improvement projects.
The Affinity Group is a joint initiative among the following Department of Health and Human Services agencies: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Health Resources and Services Administration, in collaboration with the Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy, and in partnership with the National Academy for State Health Policy.
Prior to the Affinity Group, there was a very limited working relationship between the Alaska HIV Program and Medicaid. Their collaboration throughout the affinity group allowed leaders from both programs to establish a data use agreement (DUA), providing the HIV Program access to Medicaid claims data. HIV Program staff have completed a match of HIV surveillance data to Medicaid claims to better understand the utilization of services by people living with HIV enrolled in Medicaid and their HIV viral load. HIV Program and Medicaid staff believe this data analysis will allow them to better target limited resources to PLWH who are not regularly seeking HIV care and/or filling their medications.
Maryland state officials recognized the need for a DUA between the Maryland Department of Health and the Office of Health Care Financing (Medicaid) so that HIV program staff could access Medicaid claims data. They are now in the process of finalizing a DUA that will allow regular transfers of Medicaid claims data to the state’s HIV Program. While the DUA was being written, Maryland created a list of claims-based codes that could indicate if a beneficiary is HIV positive, received HIV testing, or received pre-exposure prophylaxis (
Louisiana finalized a DUA in 2014 that allows Medicaid claims data to be shared with the state health department. The state runs quarterly analyses that compare Medicaid claims data with HIV surveillance data to identify Medicaid beneficiaries who have an HIV diagnosis, but are not accessing or engaging in HIV care, and whether or not they are virally suppressed. Medicaid managed care plans in the state receive updates about their enrolled members’ results from each quarterly analysis. Based on these reports, plans can reach out to members who are not yet engaged in HIV care and/or not virally suppressed, and help them access necessary services. Louisiana currently incentivizes plans to increase virologic suppression rates by including 
For individuals living with complex, often chronic conditions, and their families, palliative care can provide relief from symptoms, improve satisfaction and outcomes, and help address critical mental and spiritual needs during difficult times. Now more than ever, there is growing recognition of the importance of palliative care services for individuals with serious illness, such as advance care planning, pain and symptom management, care coordination, and team-based, multi-disciplinary support. These services can help patients and families cope with the symptoms and stressors of disease, better anticipate and avoid crises, and reduce unnecessary and/or unwanted care. While this model is grounded in evidence that demonstrates improved quality of life, better outcomes, and reduced cost for patients, only a fraction of individuals who could benefit from palliative care receive it. 
