title: Health care provider satisfaction with telephone consultations provided by pharmacists and physicians at the National HIV/AIDS Clinicians' Consultation Center.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The federally funded National HIV/AIDS Clinicians' Consultation Center (NCCC) offers US health care providers expert telephone consultations for managing HIV/AIDS and occupational exposures to blood-borne pathogens through 3 telephone services: the National Clinicians' Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Hotline (PEPline), the National HIV Telephone Consultation Service (Warmline), and the Perinatal HIV Hotline. Callers to the NCCC receive consultation from either a clinical pharmacist (PharmD) or a physician (MD) with HIV expertise.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare the satisfaction of NCCC callers who received clinical consultations from clinical pharmacists and physicians with HIV expertise.
  
  
  METHODS
  We prospectively mailed 1256 satisfaction surveys to NCCC health care provider callers during a 7-month period. Survey recipients were not aware that satisfaction surveys compared PharmD and MD consultation services. Respondents rated their level of agreement with 8 statements about the quality of consultation, the quality of clinical information given, and future calls to the NCCC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Survey return rates were 43% for PEPline and 40% for Warmline and Perinatal HIV Hotline combined. Overall, caller satisfaction with the telephone consultation service was extremely high (>4 in all categories on a 1-5 Likert scale). There was no significant difference in PEPline caller satisfaction ratings between PharmD and MD consultations. Callers to the Warmline and Perinatal HIV Hotline agreed with all 8 satisfaction statements. For the following 3 statements, however, satisfaction was higher when Warmline and Perinatal HIV Hotline consultation was provided by an MD: "Overall, I was pleased with the quality of my consultation" (p = 0.04); "I would use this service again" (p < 0.02); and "I am likely to recommend this service to my colleagues" (p = 0.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Health care provider callers to the NCCC were highly satisfied with the information obtained from this HIV/AIDS telephone consultation service. By measuring callers' survey response to PharmD and MD consultations, the importance of the clinicians' contributions to this advanced HIV/AIDS consultation service is documented.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA. elizabeth.sherman@nova.edu
authors.forename: Elizabeth M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Sherman
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cocohoba
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Neff
authors.forename: Betty J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Dong
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy; D017848:Blood-Borne Pathogens; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies / Q000379:methods; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D035082:Federal Government; D005260:Female; D006678:HIV; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006282:Health Personnel; D015277:Hotlines / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010595:Pharmacists; D010820:Physicians; D056990:Post-Exposure Prophylaxis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000592:standards*; D013689:Telephone / Q000592:standards*