Integrated Pharmacy and PrEP Navigation Services to Support PrEP Uptake: A Quality Improvement Project

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Infectious Disease Prevention
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective HIV prevention strategy, but its success depends on consistent medication adherence.
• Existing navigation services and adherence interventions show promise but may lack full integration into clinical workflows.
• Identifying and addressing patient-reported barriers is crucial for optimizing PrEP uptake and adherence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement an evidence-based PrEP Navigation (PN) tool to identify patient barriers to PrEP uptake.
• To evaluate the impact of the PN tool on process improvement and medication pickup times at a community health center.
• To support wider-scale PrEP uptake and continuous quality improvement in HIV prevention services.

Main Methods:

• A quality improvement project was conducted at a large community health center in Washington, DC.
• An evidence-based PrEP Navigation (PN) tool was developed to identify patient-reported barriers to PrEP uptake.
• Key outcomes, including patient demographics, reported barriers, and time from prescription to medication pickup, were measured before and after PN tool implementation.

Main Results:

• The mean time from initial prescription to medication pickup was reduced by 1.42 days (p = .030) after implementing the PN tool.
• The study analyzed data from 198 patients, assessing various demographic factors and reported barriers.
• The PN tool facilitated the identification of barriers, contributing to improved medication access.

Conclusions:

• The evidence-based PrEP Navigation tool effectively reduced the time to medication pickup, indicating improved patient access to PrEP.
• The PN tool is adaptable to specific clinic needs and patient populations, supporting scalable implementation.
• This quality improvement initiative demonstrates the value of structured navigation tools in enhancing HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis uptake and adherence.