Pharmacist impact on the HIV Care Continuum: Decreasing time to care

Introduction The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Care Continuum is a model used to describe the process of care for people living with HIV infection. National goals exist for each step of this continuum including linkage to care and time to viral suppression. Achieving these goals is hindered by an ongoing shortage of HIV care providers. Objectives The objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a pharmacist service providing initial evaluation of people with HIV infection referred for care. Effectiveness was defined as a decrease in time to care along with other pertinent clinical end points associated with the HIV Care Continuum. Methods This retrospective cohort study was conducted in an academic‐based, outpatient clinic from October 2013 to September 2017. Patients were assigned to one of two groups based on time of presentation, pre‐service (October 2013 to September 2015) and post‐service (October 2015 to September 2017). The primary outcome examined time to care from referral to visit scheduling and attendance. Secondary outcomes included time to antiretroviral initiation and viral suppression. The primary outcome analysis included all patients who attended at least one clinic visit. Secondary outcomes included only patients newly diagnosed with HIV (≤12 months prior to clinic referral). Results Significant decreases in both primary and secondary outcomes were observed for patients in the pharmacist service cohort compared with the pre‐service cohort. Days to scheduled appointment decreased from 69 to 38 days (P