• Failure to establish HIV care: characterizing the "no show" phenomenon

      Mugavero, Michael J.; Lin, Hui-Yi; Allison, Jeroan J.; Willig, James H.; Chang, Pei-Wen; Marler, Malcolm; Raper, James L; Schumacher, Joseph E.; Pisu, Maria; Saag, Michael S. (2007-06-08)
      It is estimated that up to one-third of persons with known human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in the United States are not engaged in care. We evaluated factors associated with patients' failure to establish outpatient HIV care at our clinic and found that females, racial minorities, and patients lacking private health insurance were more likely to be "no shows." At the clinic level, longer waiting time from the call to schedule a new patient visit to the appointment date was associated with failure to establish care. Because increased numbers of patients will be in need of outpatient HIV care as a result of recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines advocating routine HIV testing, it is imperative that strategies to improve access are developed to overcome the "no show" phenomenon.
    • Integrating evidence-based clinical and community strategies to improve health

      Ockene, Judith K.; Edgerton, Elizabeth A.; Teutsch, Steven M.; Marion, Lucy N.; Miller, Therese; Genevro, Janice L.; Loveland-Cherry, Carol J.; Fielding, Jonathan E.; Briss, Peter A. (2007-03-01)
      Multiple and diverse preventive strategies in clinical and community settings are necessary to improve health. This paper (1) introduces evidence-based recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Community Task Force sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (2) examines, using a social-ecologic model, the evidence-based strategies for use in clinical and community settings to address preventable health-related problems such as tobacco use and obesity, and (3) advocates for prioritization and integration of clinical and community preventive strategies in the planning of programs and policy development, calling for additional research to develop the strategies and systems needed to integrate them.