Positive Health Access to Services and Treatment (PHAST)

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Investigator: Monica Gandhi, MD, MPH
Sponsor: City and County of San Francisco

Location(s): United States

Description

The Positive Health Access to Services and Treatment (PHAST) team is a rapid response team that has championed HIV testing and linkage to care across the SFGH campus since 2002.

Our mission is to meet the goals of the US National AIDS Strategy and CDC HIV Testing Guidelines by:

  • Identifying undiagnosed HIV infection in all patients who have contact with the SFGH system
  • Providing rapid linkage to care for individuals who are newly diagnosed or have barriers to engagement in care
  • Initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) as soon as possible in all patients who are accepting of treatment
  • Supporting vulnerable patients by providing nursing care coordination and psychosocial stabilization throughout the linkage to care process

 The PHAST team consists of a part.time registered nurse, part.time nurse practitioner and full.time social work associate. This team supports over 500 patients at risk for poor linkage to care and who are primarily persons of color with high rates of homelessness, mental illness and active substance use. The average age of participants in PHAST is 39 and 11% are under the age of 25. At entry into the PHAST program, 21% of patients are taking ART. Within one year of participation in PHAST, 71% of patients are taking ART and 52% have undetectable HIV viral load. The lost.to.follow.up rate for PHAST patients is <10%.