title: Clinic-wide intervention lowers financial risk and improves revenue to HIV clinics through fewer missed primary care visits.
abstract: : We calculated the financial impact in 6 HIV clinics of a low-effort retention in care intervention involving brief motivational messages from providers, patient brochures, and posters. We used a linear regression model to calculate absolute changes in kept primary care visits from the preintervention year (2008-2009) to the intervention year (2009-2010). Revenue from patients' insurance was also assessed by clinic. Kept visits improved significantly in the intervention year versus the preintervention year (P < 0.0001). We found a net-positive effect on clinic revenue of +$24,000/year for an average-size clinic (7400 scheduled visits/year). We encourage HIV clinic administrators to consider implementing this low-effort intervention.
authors.affiliation: *Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Office of Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA; †Department of Community Health Sciences, SUNY Downstate Medical Center School of Public Health, Brooklyn, NY; ‡Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, and the Health Services Research; §Development Center of Excellence, Michael. E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX; ‖Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA; ¶Department of Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL; #Division of Infectious Diseases, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL; **Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; and ††Division of Science and Policy, Health Resources and Services Administration, Rockville, MD.
authors.forename: Lytt I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Gardner
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marks
authors.forename: Tracey E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Thomas P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Giordano
authors.forename: Meg
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Raper
authors.forename: Allan E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: Jeanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Keruly
authors.forename: Faye
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Malitz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods*; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006266:Health Education / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D055815:Young Adult