title: Managing the Personal Side of Health Care among Patients with HIV/AIDS.
abstract: The study describes the HIV care providers' sociodemographic and medical practice characteristics and the health care services offered to patients during medical care encounters in Houston/Harris County, Texas. We used data from the pilot cycle of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Medical Monitoring Project Provider Survey conducted in June to September 2009. The average age and HIV care experience of the providers were 46.7 and 11.7 years, respectively, and they provided care to an average of 113 patients monthly. The average proportion of HIV-infected patients seen per month by race/ethnicity was 43.3% for blacks, 28.5% for whites, 26.6% for Hispanics, 1.3% for Asians, and 0.6% for other races. A total of 67% of providers offered HIV testing to all patients 13 to 64 years of age. Most HIV care providers (73.9%) reported that patients in their practices sought HIV care only after experiencing symptoms. Understanding the HIV care delivery system from providers' perspectives may help enhance support services, patients' ongoing care and retention, leading to improved health outcomes.
authors.affiliation: 1 Bureau of Epidemiology, Office of Surveillance and Public Health Preparedness, Houston Department of Health and Human Services, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Osaro
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Mgbere
authors.affiliation: 1 Bureau of Epidemiology, Office of Surveillance and Public Health Preparedness, Houston Department of Health and Human Services, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Salma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khuwaja
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Tanvir K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Section, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Maria C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Barradas
authors.affiliation: 1 Bureau of Epidemiology, Office of Surveillance and Public Health Preparedness, Houston Department of Health and Human Services, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Raouf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arafat
authors.affiliation: 4 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Janet M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Blair
authors.affiliation: 5 Institute of Community Health, Texas Medical Center, University of Houston College of Pharmacy, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Ekere James
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Essien
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: HIV medical care provider; HIV/AIDS; Houston/Harris County; Texas; preventive care; provider perspective