Pharmacy Data as an Alternative Data Source for Implementation of a Data to Care Strategy.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Infectious Disease Epidemiology
• Health Informatics

Background:

• The Data to Care (D2C) strategy uses HIV surveillance data to re-engage individuals not in care.
• Current D2C models face delays in identifying non-adherent patients due to long reporting intervals for viral load and CD4 tests.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the use of pharmacy claims and fulfillment data as a modified approach to the D2C strategy.
• To identify individuals with HIV who have stopped filling antiretroviral therapy (ART) prescriptions, indicating a risk of falling out of care.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing pharmacy claims and fulfillment data to track monthly antiretroviral (ARV) prescription refills.
• Applying "big data" analytics to identify patterns of missed ARV refills, signaling potential disengagement from HIV care.

Main Results:

• Pharmacy data allows for the identification of individuals not filling ARV prescriptions on a monthly basis.
• This method provides a more real-time indicator of adherence compared to traditional HIV surveillance data.

Conclusions:

• Tracking ARV refill data is a more timely indicator of poor adherence.
• This approach can proactively identify individuals with HIV at risk of falling out of medical care, enabling timely re-engagement interventions.