Enhancing the ATra Black Box Matching Algorithm: Use of All Names for Deduplication Across Jurisdictions.

OBJECTIVES: Achieving accurate, timely, and complete HIV surveillance data is complicated in the United States by migration and care seeking across jurisdictional boundaries. To address these issues, public health entities use the ATra Black Box-a secure, electronic, privacy-assuring system developed by Georgetown University-to identify and confirm potential duplicate case records, exchange data, and perform other analytics to improve the quality of data in the Enhanced HIV/AIDS Reporting System (eHARS). We aimed to evaluate the ability of 2 ATra software algorithms to identify potential duplicate case-pairs across 6 jurisdictions for people living with diagnosed HIV. METHODS: We implemented 2 matching algorithms for identifying potential duplicate case-pairs in ATra software. The Single Name Matching Algorithm examines only 1 name for a person, whereas the All Names Matching Algorithm examines all names in eHARS for a person. Six public health jurisdictions used the algorithms. We compared outputs for the overall number of potential matches and changes in matching level. RESULTS: The All Names Matching Algorithm found more matches than the Single Name Matching Algorithm and increased levels of match. The All Names Matching Algorithm identified 9070 (4.5%) more duplicate matches than the Single Name Matching Algorithm (n = 198 828) and increased the total number of matches at the exact through high levels by 15.4% (from 167 156 to 192 932; n = 25 776). CONCLUSIONS: HIV data quality across multiple jurisdictions can be improved by using all known first and last names of people living with diagnosed HIV that match with eHARS rather than using only 1 first and last name.

Exploring How Epidemic Context Influences Syphilis Screening Impact: A Mathematical Modeling Study.

BACKGROUND: The current syphilis epidemic in the United States is concentrated in gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM), but substantial heterosexual transmission is reported in some parts of the country. Using the US states of Louisiana and Massachusetts as case studies, we investigated how epidemic context influences the impact of population screening approaches for syphilis control. METHODS: We constructed a compartmental metapopulation model parameterized to describe observed patterns of syphilis transmission. We estimated the impact of different approaches to screening, including perfect adherence to current US screening guidelines in MSM. RESULTS: In Louisiana, where syphilis cases are more evenly distributed among MSM and heterosexual populations, we projected that screening according to guidelines would contribute to no change or an increase in syphilis burden, compared with burden with current estimated screening coverage. In Massachusetts, which has a more MSM-focused outbreak, we projected that screening according to guidelines would be as or more effective than current screening coverage in most population groups. CONCLUSIONS: Men who have sex with men-focused approaches to screening may be insufficient for control when there is substantial transmission in heterosexual populations. Epidemic characteristics may be useful when identifying at-risk groups for syphilis screening.

Implementing a Data to Care Strategy to Improve Health Outcomes for People With HIV: A Report From the Care and Prevention in the United States Demonstration Project.

OBJECTIVES: The Care and Prevention in the United States Demonstration Project included implementation of a Data to Care strategy using surveillance and other data to (1) identify people with HIV infection in need of HIV medical care or other services and (2) facilitate linkages to those services to improve health outcomes. We present the experiences of 4 state health departments: Illinois, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Virginia. METHODS: The 4 state health departments used multiple databases to generate listings of people with diagnosed HIV infection (PWH) who were presumed not to be in HIV medical care or who had difficulty maintaining viral suppression from October 1, 2013, through September 29, 2016. Each health department prioritized the listings (eg, by length of time not in care, by viral load), reviewed them for accuracy, and then disseminated the listings to staff members to link PWH to HIV care and services. RESULTS: Of 16 391 PWH presumed not to be in HIV medical care, 9852 (60.1%) were selected for follow-up; of those, 4164 (42.3%) were contacted, and of those, 1479 (35.5%) were confirmed to be not in care. Of 794 (53.7%) PWH who accepted services, 694 (87.4%) were linked to HIV medical care. The Louisiana Department of Health also identified 1559 PWH as not virally suppressed, 764 (49.0%) of whom were eligible for follow-up. Of the 764 PWH who were eligible for follow-up, 434 (56.8%) were contacted, of whom 269 (62.0%) had treatment adherence issues. Of 153 PWH who received treatment adherence services, 104 (68.0%) showed substantial improvement in viral suppression. CONCLUSIONS: The 4 health departments established procedures for using surveillance and other data to improve linkage to HIV medical care and health outcomes for PWH. To be effective, health departments had to enhance coordination among surveillance, care programs, and providers; develop mechanisms to share data; and address limitations in data systems and data quality.

Perinatal HIV Exposure Surveillance and Reporting in the United States, 2014.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to describe the current status of perinatal HIV exposure surveillance (PHES) activities and regulations in the United States and to make recommendations to strengthen PHES. METHODS: In 2014, we sent an online survey to health departments in the 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and 6 cities and counties (Chicago, Illinois; Houston, Texas; Los Angeles, California; New York, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and San Francisco, California). We analyzed responses from 56 of the 59 (95%) jurisdictions. RESULTS: Thirty-three of 56 jurisdictions (59%) reported conducting PHES and following infants to determine their infection status. Of the 33 jurisdictions performing PHES, 28 (85%) linked maternal and infant data, but only 12 (36%) determined the HIV care status of postpartum women. Themes of respondents' recommendations for strengthening PHES centered on updating laws and regulations to support PHES, reporting all HIV test results and linking vital records with PHES data to identify and follow HIV-exposed infants, communicating with health care providers to improve reporting, training staff, and getting help from experienced jurisdictions to implement PHES. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that data on perinatal exposure collected through the current system are inadequate to comprehensively monitor and prevent perinatal HIV exposure and transmission. Comprehensive PHES data collection and reporting are needed to sustain the progress that has been made toward lowering perinatal HIV transmission rates. We propose that minimum standards be established for perinatal HIV exposure reporting to improve the completeness, quality, and efficiency of PHES in the United States.