PC4PrEP: Integrating PrEP Into Primary Care

Summary

Oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been proven effective in reducing HIV infection in high-risk men who have sex with men, heterosexually active women and men, and injecting drug users. Despite its 2012 approval by the FDA and the development of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) clinical guidelines, PrEP uptake has been limited. Significant impediments to PrEP implementation include: system barriers (lack of a medical "home" and of models for implementing PrEP); provider barriers (difficulty identifying those likely to benefit from PrEP, inexperience with PrEP, and concerns about adherence and risk compensation); and user barriers (lack of awareness of PrEP, inability to access providers comfortable with prescribing PrEP, and concerns about stigma and side effects). Cost is not a barrier in New York State, where PrEP is covered by many insurance plans, including Medicaid.

Primary Care for PrEP (PC4PrEP) is a structural, multilevel intervention that will integrate PrEP into primary care practices that care for underserved communities in the Bronx, NY, an epicenter of continuing HIV infection in the US. PC4PrEP will develop an organizational protocol for prescribing PrEP in primary care; identify high-risk individuals in primary care clinics and community HIV testing sites using a new PrEP Eligibility Tool; link them to primary care providers (PCPs) who can provide PrEP; and counsel potential users about PrEP both before they receive a prescription (to enhance receptivity), and after they initiate PrEP (to enhance adherence). In the course of this study, investigator(s) will (1) develop and pilot PC4PrEP; (2) implement and evaluate it in "real-world" settings (Federally Qualified Health Centers; FQHCs) on objective outcomes as well as provider and patient reports; and (3) present a new model, the PrEP Cascade that - as with the HIV Care Cascade for HIV+ populations - may be used to evaluate the impact of PrEP programs in the US and other countries. PC4PrEP is consistent with CDC and New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) Guidelines and the Affordable Care Act in integrating PrEP into primary care practices and is responsive to recent 2014 NYSDOH recommendations which now position PrEP as a first-line intervention for MSM and transgender women who engage in ongoing anal sex without condoms, HIV- partners in sero-discordant relationships, and high-risk heterosexual women in high seroprevalence areas.There are two Specific Aims: (1) Finalize the PC4PrEP intervention and, in a clinic-randomized Phase 2 futility trial, assess whether it shows promise for increasing PrEP prescription rates in the Bronx, NY; and (2) Identify strengths and limitations of PC4PrEP in two ways: (a) through a mixed-methods process evaluation PrEP-eligible patients and PCPs, counselors and navigators; and (b) by identifying "fall-off" at each step of the PrEP Cascade.

Conditions

• Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission

Interventions

OTHER

PC4PrEP- Intervention Clinics

PC4PrEP is a comprehensive, multi-level, structural and sustainable intervention designed to address barriers at system, provider, and user levels to increase PrEP uptake.

OTHER

Standard of Care Clinics

The standard of care model is the model approved by the health system for their health care clinics.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• HIV Center for Clinical & Behavioral Studies at Columbia University

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

  collaborator NIH

• Albert Einstein College of Medicine

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Laurie J. Bauman, PhD · Albert Einstein College of Medicine

• Joanne Mantell, PhD · NYSPI HIV Center for Clinical & Behavioral Studies at Columbia University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-02-28

Primary Completion

2022-04-22

Completion

2022-04-22

Countries

• United States

Study Locations