December 1st is World AIDS Day, when we collectively remember those who died due to AIDS-related illnesses and renew our commitment to work together to end the HIV epidemic and support people with HIV. This year’s theme, “Putting Ourselves to the Test: Achieving Equity to End HIV,” emphasizes accountability and action. Collaborative, community-based, cross sector, and whole-of-government approaches that address clinical and social determinants of health (SDOH) are needed to support communities disproportionally affected by HIV and achieve national HIV/AIDS goals. Interoperable health IT, with health equity as a fundamental design feature, is an important tool to enable these efforts.
Health IT was incorporated into the latest National HIV/AIDS Strategy Federal Implementation Plan for the United States 2022-2025. Strategy 4.3.2 in the plan is focused on using health IT to enhance HIV prevention efforts, support early intervention, and improve care outcomes. The actions under this strategy are focused on advancing data standards to facilitate interoperability, including clinical decision support for HIV testing and treatment, HIV case management and care coordination, and social determinants of health information exchange… Read the full article here.