title: HIV antibody testing in a teaching hospital: policy versus practice.
abstract: The cost of HIV antibody testing can be phenomenal. Thus many countries, Ghana included, have adopted policies to guide physicians in making judicious test requests. An analysis of compliance with this policy in a teaching hospital in Ghana, shows that 70% of physician requests meet the stated Ministry of Health guidelines. However, while 84.5% of all test requests which turned positive were within stated guidelines, 48.6% of those turning out negative were not indicated by the policy. The cost of HIV antibody testing could be minimised if clinicians operated within the stated guidelines which make considerations for judicious use of health resources. Compliance with policy also needs evaluating.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana.
authors.forename: Y A
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Adu-Sarkodie
mesh_terms: D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis / Q000191:economics; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006748:Hospital Departments; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016134:Organizational Policy; D018579:Patient Selection; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'
chemical_list: D015483:HIV Antibodies