Ryan White Title III HIV Capacity Development and Planning Grants - Established in 1973, Whitman-Walker Health (WWH) is a Federally Qualified Health Center and Patient-Centered Medical Home in Washington, DC. WWH offers primary medical and dental care; HIV specialty care; mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) counseling and treatment; HIV education, prevention, and testing; support groups; medical case management; and legal services. WWH has been a Ryan White Part C grantee since 1991 and remains committed to meeting the health needs of people living with HIV. WWH will use capacity development funds for Infrastructure Development, specifically to augment the health center’s telehealth capabilities by launching a new Electronic Medical Record (EMR), Epic. Telehealth is a critical resource for HIV+ patients and multidisciplinary care providers. Epic’s state-of-the-art telehealth platform helps to increase HIV+ patients’ engagement and retention in care by allowing these patients to meet with members of their care team while in the comfort and safety of their homes or other preferred locations. Care providers use real-time audio and video to discuss clinical concerns with patients and seamlessly coordinate care within the integrated EMR. This approach helps address known obstacles to care and minimizes care burden on both HIV+ patients and their care providers. Epic’s more sophisticated telehealth platform will better allow WWH’s service providers to collaboratively address the complex needs of HIV+ patients and permit these patients more flexibility in how they interact with their care team. WWH requests $150,000 for this one-year project. The proposed service area for this capacity building grant is the District of Columbia. WWH serves 38% of DC’s Ryan White patients, and its locations are well-situated, geographically, to provide services to people who are living with HIV. More than 50% of WWH’s HIV+ patients are covered by public insurance plans, and 72% fall under 200% of the federal poverty level. WWH requests statutory preference, as HIV services in the DC area do not sufficiently address the need. DC continues to have one of the highest rates of HIV transmission in the country and falls within the CDC’s definition of an epidemic. It is essential for community health centers to provide the highest quality and most innovative care possible as part of a coordinated response to end the epidemic. In line with WWH’s efforts to reduce the impact of HIV and achieve the objectives of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, Population Health & Quality (PHQ) staff will facilitate the launch of Epic’s EMR and its accompanying virtual care platform. Implementation of Epic will allow WWH to continue improving HIV+ patient engagement via telehealth, streamline care planning, and support delivery of targeted HIV interventions via telehealth modalities. Epic will also increase provider access to care planning tools that are relevant to WWH’s patient populations, segmented in meaningful ways that allow the staff to target tele-interventions based on risk and need. With this funding request, PHQ staff will facilitate training sessions for clinical care providers by service area and conduct targeted outreach and education for HIV+ patients to increase their use of WWH’s new telehealth platform. PHQ staff will also provide ongoing technical assistance for multidisciplinary staff to increase their use of population health tools in Epic for visit planning in the telehealth world and offer personalized support for HIV+ patients who are navigating WWH’s expanded telehealth services. This capacity-building enhancement of WWH’s EMR and companion analytics will support efforts toward achieving two of the three National HIV/AIDS Strategy goals: 1) Increase access to care and improve health outcomes for people living with HIV and 2) Reduce HIV-related health disparities.
