hiv test results and patient portal

Beyond the ability to view test results, the patient portal also allows users other functionalities such as entering health data (e.g. blood pressure readings), requesting refills of medications, viewing upcoming appointments, and secure messaging with physicians and other providers. System for Providing Direct Access to Test Results

Full Answer

How do you tell a patient that they have HIV?

May 14, 2018 · When you take an anonymous HIV test, you get a unique identifier that allows you to get your test results. These tests are not available at every place that provides HIV testing. Confidential testing means that your name and other identifying information will be attached to your test results. The results will go in your medical record and may be shared with your health …

Can I find out my partner's HIV status from my test?

The results will go in your medical record and may be shared with your health care providers and your health insurance company. Otherwise, the results are protected by state and federal privacy laws, and they can be released only with your permission. With confidential testing, if you test positive for HIV, the test result and your name will be reported to the state or local health …

What should I do if my follow-up test results confirm HIV?

Mar 31, 2017 · The patient portal may be used to inform patients that their test result is negative, and it can be used for electronic prescription of PrEP medications. These patients are also instructed to use the portal to discuss side effects and potential symptoms of acute HIV infection that may indicate the need for urgent discontinuation of PrEP.

What is an HIV viral load test?

Provide If your HIV Test is Positive information sheet. (See Patient Materials) Make an appointment with an HIV provider right away. (See Provide Treatment and Referrals) Proceed with plan for confirmed positive test results. Sample Disclosure Script. Make sure the patient is in a private area. In a calm voice, tell the patient: “The result of the HIV test came back positive.” To …

How are you notified of a positive HIV test?

Can HIV test results be emailed?

How long does it take to get HIV test results back?

How do doctors give positive HIV results?

What is a normal viral load?

Can HIV test results be released?

Otherwise, the results are protected by state and federal privacy laws, and they can be released only with your permission. With confidential testing, if you test positive for HIV, the test result and your name will be reported to the state or local health department to help public health officials get better estimates of the rates ...

Why is it important to disclose your HIV status?

It’s important to disclose your HIV status to your sex or needle-sharing partners even if you’re uncomfortable doing so. Communicating with each other about your HIV status means you can take steps to keep both of you healthy. The more practice you have disclosing your HIV status, the easier it will become.

What is an anonymous HIV test?

Anonymous testing means that nothing ties your test results to you. When you take an anonymous HIV test, you get a unique identifier that allows you to get your test results. You can also purchase a self-test if you want to test anonymously. Confidential testing means that your name and other identifying information will be attached ...

What happens if you test positive for HIV?

With confidential testing, if you test positive for HIV, the test result and your name will be reported to the state or local health department to help public health officials get better estimates of the rates of HIV in the state.

Can you tell your family you have HIV?

In most cases, your family and friends will not know your test results or HIV status unless you tell them yourself. While telling your family that you have HIV may seem hard, you should know that disclosure has many benefits—telling friends and family can provide an important source of support in managing your HIV.

Can an employer know if you have HIV?

Employers. In most cases, your employer will not know your HIV status unless you tell them. But your employer does have a right to ask if you have any health conditions that would affect your ability to do your job or pose a serious risk to others.

What is confidential testing?

Confidential testing means that your name and other identifying information will be attached to your test results. The results will go in your medical record and may be shared with your health care providers and your health insurance company.

Why is HIV screening important?

Why it’s important: Some HIV medications can have serious side effects, and this test helps your provider monitor the impact of your medications on your body’s ability to function normally. Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Screening: These screening tests check for syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia.

Why is it important to know about HIV?

Why it’s important: For women living with HIV, abnormal cell growth in the cervix is common, and abnormal anal cells are common for both men and women living with HIV. These abnormal cells may become cancerous if they aren’t treated. Why it’s important: Some people who are living with HIV are also coinfected with hepatitis.

What is the most advanced stage of HIV?

In contrast, if HIV has destroyed so many CD4 cells that you have a CD4 count of fewer than 200/mm 3, you are considered to have progressed to stage 3 (AIDS), the most advanced stage of HIV infection. Why it’s important: A CD4 count is a good measure of your risk of opportunistic infections and an indicator of how well your immune system is working.

Why are lab tests important?

Lab Tests and Why They Are Important. As part of your HIV care , your provider will order several laboratory tests. The results of these lab tests, along with your physical exam and other information you provide , will help you and your provider work together to develop the best plan to manage your HIV care so that you can get ...

What is a CD4 test?

The lab tests may include: CD4 count: CD4 cells are a type of white blood cell. They are specialized cells of the immune system that are destroyed by HIV. A CD4 count measures how many CD4 cells are in your blood. The higher your CD4 cell count, the healthier your immune system. The CD4 count of an uninfected adult/adolescent who is generally in ...

Why is CD4 count important?

Why it’s important: A CD4 count is a good measure of your risk of opportunistic infections and an indicator of how well your immune system is working. Treatment with antiretroviral therapy (ART), medications that control the HIV, is recommended for everyone with HIV, no matter how high or low their CD4 count is.

What is a viral load test?

Viral Load (VL): An HIV viral load test, also called an HIV RNA test, tracks how many HIV particles are in a sample of your blood. This is called your viral load. Why it’s important: A goal of HIV treatment is to keep your viral load so low that the virus can’t be detected by a viral load test.

Abstract

The electronic medical record provides an exciting opportunity to support the coordination of care by medical and social providers. Many of these systems include patient portals that allow providers to share clinical information with patients in real time.

Keywords

HIV medicine in 2014 was marked by the personalized nature of the medical management of this now-chronic condition. With a very broad repertoire of antiretroviral medications to treat this once untreatable infection, clinical trials data are contextualized to the exact viral genome that infects each patient.

Patient Portals and the Electronic Health Record (EHR)

Some EHRs allow patients to enter a portal that permits them to see their laboratory results and communicate with their providers through secure communication.

Patient Portals, Confidentiality, and Stigmatization

To many people living with HIV and at risk for infection, confidentiality and the discretion of their medical care establishment are central to their care alliance with their physicians.

Conclusion

The increase in accessibility of medical information stored in the EHR by the patient has in many ways been a great fit for the modern management of HIV disease.

How to help a patient with HIV?

Provide Counseling. HIV is a manageable disease. Assure the patient that, with good medical care and patient adherence, people with HIV can stay healthier and live longer. Learning to cope. Discuss ways to handle the emotional consequences of learning about a positive test result.

Is HIV a manageable disease?

HIV is a manageable disease. Assure the patient that, with good medical care and patient adherence, people with HIV can stay healthier and live longer. Learning to cope. Discuss ways to handle the emotional consequences of learning about a positive test result. Risk reduction.

What test is used to test for HIV?

If an oral fluid point-of-care-test (POCT) or "rapid" test was used, consider testing again with a finger stick blood POCT. Give the patient his or her HIV test results. (See Sample Disclosure Script below)

Is HIV a serious disease?

You can point out that, “Although HIV is a very serious infection, things are very different from years ago. Today many people with HIV are living much longer, healthier lives due to new medications that can keep the immune system strong for many years in many cases.”

What is the HIV load?

HIV viral load measurements indicate the number of copies of the HIV that are in a milliliter of a person’s blood. HIV medicine, when taken as prescribed, reduces the amount of HIV in the body (viral load) to a very low level, which keeps the immune system working and prevents illness. This is called viral suppression.

What is the function of CD4 in HIV?

CD4 is a protein found on the surface of some white blood cells. Measuring white blood cells with CD4 (CD4 cell counts) provides a measure of a person’s immune function. Among people with HIV, CD4 counts are often used ...

What is CD4 in blood?

CD4 is a protein found on the surface of some white blood cells. Measuring white blood cells with CD4 (CD4 cell counts) provides a measure of a person’s immune function. Among people with HIV, CD4 counts are often used to monitor disease progression and determine the stage of HIV infection.

What is CD4 in HIV?

CD4 is a protein found on the surface of some white blood cells. Measuring white blood cells with CD4 (CD4 cell counts) provides a measure of a person’s immune function. Among people with HIV, CD4 counts are often used to monitor disease progression and determine the stage of HIV infection. Current HIV clinical management guidelines recommend CD4 ...

What is CD4 count?

Measuring white blood cells with CD4 (CD4 cell counts) provides a measure of a person’s immune function. Among people with HIV, CD4 counts are often used to monitor disease progression and determine the stage of HIV infection. Current HIV clinical management guidelines recommend CD4 and viral load testing at the time of diagnosis ...

What is molecular data used for?

HIV molecular data can also be used to identify drug resistance trends on the population level and can be used to identify a growing cluster of infections (i.e., an area or group of individuals) in which transmission is rapidly occurring.

Who is Lidia Schapira?

Breast cancer specialist Lidia Schapira is an associate professor at the Stanford University Medical Center and editor-in-chief of Cancer.net, the patient information website of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

What did Laura Devitt do when she had her two kids?

As she herded her two young sons into bed one evening late last December, Laura Devitt flipped through her phone to check on the routine blood tests that had been performed as part of her annual physical. She logged onto the patient portal link on her electronic medical record, scanned the results and felt her stomach clench with fear.

Lab Tests and Why They Are Important

Viral Load Test

• One important test is your HIV viral load test. It’s a lab test that measures how many HIV particles are in a sample of your blood. This is called your viral load. You want your viral load to be low. The higher your viral load, the greater your risk of becoming ill because of HIV and the more likely you are to transmit HIV. The viral load is highes...

See more on hiv.gov

CD4 Cell Count

Other Important Lab Tests

Frequency and Timing of Testing