National Survey of HIV Testing in Hospitals

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that as many as 25 percent of the 1.2 million Americans who are HIV positive are unaware that they are carrying the virus. To better understand the opportunities and challenges the nation faces in identifying and treating those infected, HRET, in partnership with the CDC, surveyed 1,000 hospitals in 2009 on their current practices of HIV testing and treatment. The survey included questions that addressed the following:

1. Whether hospitals use written guidelines for HIV testing in the emergency department, labor and delivery and inpatient settings, as well as the nature of those protocols (i.e., diagnostic, targeted testing, or screening, as defined by the CDC)
2. Any changes in HIV testing practices in inpatient, emergency department and labor and delivery settings since the 2004 HRET Hospital HIV Testing survey
3. Any changes in the use of rapid HIV tests since the 2004 survey
4. Uptake of specific components of the CDC's 2006 Revised Recommendations for HIV Testing in Health Care Settings, such as opt-out policies, use of general medical consent to cover consent for HIV testing, streamlined pretest procedures

Findings from this survey will provide an understanding of the impact of the CDC's revised recommendations for HIV testing in hospitals and indicate where and in what departments more effort is required to support the adoption of these recommendations. To learn more about the survey, contact Julie Yonek at 312-422-2644 or jyonek@aha.org.

To access HRET's operational guide on implementing or expanding ED-based HIV testing, go to www.edhivtestguide.org.