On-site pharmacy improves retention in care, clinical outcomes in people living with HIV

Use of an in-clinic outpatient pharmacy appears to result in better retention in care and clinical outcomes among people living with HIV (PLWH), according to a study.

“Few published studies have examined the relationship between pharmacy location and retention in care or clinical outcome in PLWH,” the authors said.

To determine whether using an on-site/in-clinic pharmacy to obtain antiretroviral therapy improved retention in care and virologic suppression rates, the authors matched PLWH attending a Ryan White outpatient clinic in an academic centre based on age and insurance.

Then, they evaluated the rates of retention in care (≥2 medical visits/calendar year) between patients using a pharmacy on-site in the clinic as opposed to those using off-site pharmacy options. Finally, virologic suppression (viral load [VL] <200 copies/mL), competing ≥2 VL, and CD4 count were compared between pharmacy types.

A total of 137 on-site pharmacy patients and 274 off-site pharmacy patients met the eligibility and matching criteria. Among the participants, 91.2 percent of on-site pharmacy users attended ≥2 clinic visits as compared to 83.2 percent of off-site pharmacy users (p=0.0275). In addition, those in the on-site pharmacy group were nearly twice as likely to complete ≥2 clinic visits (odds ratio, 2.032, 95 percent confidence interval, 1.071–3.857).

The proportion of patients achieving virologic suppression was comparable between on-site and off-site pharmacy users (92.7 percent vs 89.1 percent, respectively; p=0.239).

“On-site pharmacies may provide an opportunity to positively impact retention in care and clinical outcomes for PLWH,” the authors said.