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Verification and Implementation of HIV Antibody Differentiation Testing to Improve Turnaround Time for the HIV
Allison B Chambliss1,2, Ira A Shulman1,2
1Department of Pathology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
Background:
Relying on reference laboratories for HIV confirmation testing may lead to delays in treatment and can cause stress for patients who have positive HIV screening results.
Objective:
To internalize HIV-1/HIV-2 antibody differentiation testing within the hospital laboratory.
Methods:
We analytically verified an HIV antibody differentiation immunoassay and subsequently compared result turnaround times (TATs) for HIV antibody differentiation and HIV-1 qualitative RNA in the months before and after the test internalization.
Results:
HIV antibody differentiation was successfully verified. TATs for HIV antibody differentiation and HIV-1 RNA significantly improved, from medians of 40.4 hours and 156.5 hours to medians of 17.7 hours and 56.5 hours, respectively, after the internalization. The 90th-percentile turnaround times declined by 72% and 44%, respectively.
Conclusions:
It is feasible for a hospital laboratory to verify HIV antibody-differentiation testing. Its implementation may considerably improve result TATs for the HIV diagnostic algorithm.
