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Health clinic to offer free testing for HIV
By Cheryl Powell
Beacon Journal medical writer
POSTED: 09:36 p.m. EDT, Sep 18, 2008
About one in four Americans living with HIV doesn't know it.
Now an Akron medical and dental practice that caters primarily to the poor and uninsured wants to help those patients get proper treatment and stop the spread of HIV by giving everyone a chance to get tested for free.
Starting this week, Akron Community Health Resources (ACHR) is offering free rapid HIV screening tests to all patients 13 and older, even if they don't have any obvious risk factors for contracting the virus that causes AIDS.
ACHR is one of four federally supported health centers in the state participating in the pilot project to offer the HIV rapid screening tests.
Starting this week, patients at ACHR's sliding-scale medical clinic and dental practice on South Arlington Street are being asked at all appointments whether they want the free screening test for the virus that causes AIDS.
''That's what we say to people: 'You're not being singled out. We offer it to everybody,' '' said Christina T. Coenen, nurse practitioner at ACHR. ''You don't want to go by just their risk indicators because you're going to miss people. It should be part of routine care.''
The tests and other support are being provided by the Ohio Department of Health through a one-year, $300,000 grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The screening tests cost the state about $8.25 each, said Bill Tiedermann, program chief for the Ohio Department of Health's HIV, STD and adult viral hepatitis prevention program.
''It's a pretty exciting pilot project, because historically HIV testing is risk-based testing,'' he said. ''Some people don't know they're at risk, so they might be walking around with the virus unknown. We're hoping to find individuals who are positive and get them into the care.''
The initiative supports the CDC's recommendations that HIV screening should be a routine part of health care, not simply a test for people who think they're at risk because of sexual contact, drug use or other risky behaviors.
Those testing recommendations, however, haven't been widely adopted, largely because of the cost and resistance to be tested because of the stigma attached to it, said Cheryl Modica, project director for the HIV testing initiative with the National Association of Community Health Centers Inc.
The nonprofit national group is working with the Ohio Department of Health and the four health centers in the project to help roll out the HIV testing.
The group already has helped establish HIV rapid testing programs in health clinics in southeastern states, where 13,000 of the 17,000 patients who were offered a free screening test in the first year accepted.
Of those tested, 17 were HIV-positive, Modica said.
''Patients are accepting it at a higher rate, because they don't feel singled out,'' she said.
Under Ohio's pilot project, established patients at ACHR's medical clinic have the option of getting the Clearview HIV screening test, which relies on a drop of blood from a finger prick to get preliminary results in 15 minutes.
The dental clinic is offering the OraQuick Advance rapid HIV antibody test, which uses an oral swab to produce results in 20 minutes. Providing an instant answer is important. As many as 30 percent of patients nationwide who undergo the traditional HIV blood testing never come back three days to weeks later when their results are available, Modica said.
The rapid-result tests offered are screening — not diagnostic — tests. All results that are preliminarily positive must be confirmed with a traditional blood test, which is sent to the Ohio Department of Health to provide results in about five days.
One to three per 1,000 tests will give false-positives that are later shown to be negative with the blood test, Modica said. A negative result doesn't require further testing.
Akron Community Health Resources is working with the HIV/AIDS treatment centers at Akron's hospitals and other support services to quickly refer any patients who test positive, Coenen said.
''We're going to connect you to the care you need for your HIV in the community,'' she said.
Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or chpowell@thebeaconjournal.com.
About one in four Americans living with HIV doesn't know it.
Now an Akron medical and dental practice that caters primarily to the poor and uninsured wants to help those patients get proper treatment and stop the spread of HIV by giving everyone a chance to get tested for free.
Starting this week, Akron Community Health Resources (ACHR) is offering free rapid HIV screening tests to all patients 13 and older, even if they don't have any obvious risk factors for contracting the virus that causes AIDS.
ACHR is one of four federally supported health centers in the state participating in the pilot project to offer the HIV rapid screening tests.
Starting this week, patients at ACHR's sliding-scale medical clinic and dental practice on South Arlington Street are being asked at all appointments whether they want the free screening test for the virus that causes AIDS.
''That's what we say to people: 'You're not being singled out. We offer it to everybody,' '' said Christina T. Coenen, nurse practitioner at ACHR. ''You don't want to go by just their risk indicators because you're going to miss people. It should be part of routine care.''
The tests and other support are being provided by the Ohio Department of Health through a one-year, $300,000 grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The screening tests cost the state about $8.25 each, said Bill Tiedermann, program chief for the Ohio Department of Health's HIV, STD and adult viral hepatitis prevention program.
''It's a pretty exciting pilot project, because historically HIV testing is risk-based testing,'' he said. ''Some people don't know they're at risk, so they might be walking around with the virus unknown. We're hoping to find individuals who are positive and get them into the care.''
The initiative supports the CDC's recommendations that HIV screening should be a routine part of health care, not simply a test for people who think they're at risk because of sexual contact, drug use or other risky behaviors.
Those testing recommendations, however, haven't been widely adopted, largely because of the cost and resistance to be tested because of the stigma attached to it, said Cheryl Modica, project director for the HIV testing initiative with the National Association of Community Health Centers Inc.
The nonprofit national group is working with the Ohio Department of Health and the four health centers in the project to help roll out the HIV testing.
The group already has helped establish HIV rapid testing programs in health clinics in southeastern states, where 13,000 of the 17,000 patients who were offered a free screening test in the first year accepted.
Of those tested, 17 were HIV-positive, Modica said.
''Patients are accepting it at a higher rate, because they don't feel singled out,'' she said.
Under Ohio's pilot project, established patients at ACHR's medical clinic have the option of getting the Clearview HIV screening test, which relies on a drop of blood from a finger prick to get preliminary results in 15 minutes.
The dental clinic is offering the OraQuick Advance rapid HIV antibody test, which uses an oral swab to produce results in 20 minutes. Providing an instant answer is important. As many as 30 percent of patients nationwide who undergo the traditional HIV blood testing never come back three days to weeks later when their results are available, Modica said.
The rapid-result tests offered are screening — not diagnostic — tests. All results that are preliminarily positive must be confirmed with a traditional blood test, which is sent to the Ohio Department of Health to provide results in about five days.
One to three per 1,000 tests will give false-positives that are later shown to be negative with the blood test, Modica said. A negative result doesn't require further testing.
Akron Community Health Resources is working with the HIV/AIDS treatment centers at Akron's hospitals and other support services to quickly refer any patients who test positive, Coenen said.
''We're going to connect you to the care you need for your HIV in the community,'' she said.
Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or chpowell@thebeaconjournal.com.
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