With nearly 100% of community health centers utilizing electronic health records (EHR) to care for patients, focus has pivoted from implementation and new workflow development to enhancement in order to drive value and reflect patient needs and population trends. EHR technology presents potential opportunities and significant constraints. Providers frequently document and share potentially sensitive information in the EHR, such as risk for intimate partner violence (IPV), consistent offers of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), or patient sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). Capturing such information can be immensely helpful in providing care tailored to individuals’ needs, but additionally challenges teams to develop workflows that keep the data private rather than risk harm to patients through improper or unintended disclosure.

Health centers are increasingly interested in embedding oral Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) programs into primary care, which calls for the embedding of PrEP care processes into electronic health record (EHR) systems. Health centers have had success with automation in HIV testing, and are looking to apply automated algorithms, order sets, and templates to the development of PrEP programs. This resource outlines EHR and health information technology (IT) configurations and tools that support PrEP care processes and provides examples of successful implementation from health centers and primary care settings.

In the 2022 UDS, United States health centers reported 7,328,565 of their 16,835,841 eligible medical patients (43.53%) were tested for HIV at least once after their 15th birthday and before their 66th birthday.

As health centers integrate PrEP for HIV prevention into their primary care services, it is important to align with the latest guidance and research. The PrEP checklist from UNC School of Medicine's North Carolina HIV Training & Education Center offers step-by-step detailed guidance for providing PrEP. This checklist can be used to inform workflow, EHR, and other health IT updates including order sets and clinical decision support. It can also be used as a reference for providers who are newer to providing PrEP who are prompted or alerted to a patient's potential need for HIV prevention services.

We can only End the HIV Epidemic if we work together, and that includes data sharing. Sharing important information, such as HIV test results, can help ensure optimal care for people at risk for or living with HIV coming to or from different health centers. Check out these strategies and tools to learn some tried and true strategies for data-sharing between health centers. 

Identifying candidates for PrEP can be challenging but not impossible. The first step to finding the right candidates involves understanding the criteria for PrEP. Not everyone is a great candidate for PrEP or can adhere to the frequent testing and monitoring required of PrEP patients. Some patients are comfortable using condoms and other HIV prevention methods, and providers should respect and affirm their decision.

HIV testing is one of the many ways we can End the HIV Epidemic. HITEQ's latest blog post offers strategies for leveraging your EHR to make HIV screening a breeze at your health center. 

HIV testing is one of the many ways we can End the HIV Epidemic. HITEQ's latest blogs offers strategies for leveraging your EHR to make HIV screening a breeze at your health center.