The HIV specialist improves quality of care and outcomes

HAART has raised the bar for standards of care for HIV/AIDS. As patient outcomes improve, efforts are under way to address the infrastructure needed to continue to provide high-quality HIV care. Standards of care and treatment guidelines are updated regularly in an effort to keep up with our rapidly evolving understanding of HIV medicine. Two professional organizations have been formed in the past several years to address the needs of HIV care providers and patients. While there is slight variation between the 2 groups, both organizations define the HIV specialist in terms of clinical experience and continuing education and recognize that HIV care providers are a diverse group committed to managing this critical and constantly evolving epidemic. Several states have also developed initiatives that address the importance of health care quality and outcomes for people with HIV/AIDS. New York and California lead the way, and surely other states will follow. To ensure quality of care and continued good outcomes for our patients, managed care organizations and other providers of HIV care can now measure their own competence against these existing standards.