1276. Changes in Primary Care Pre-exposure Prophylaxis prescribing in a Large Healthcare System after the Implementation of an HIV Screening Alert and Educational Intervention

Abstract

BackgroundThe number of providers that prescribe pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV remains low. Primary care providers (PCPs) are less knowledgeable than HIV providers (HIVPs) with regards to PrEP: fewer PCPs had heard of PrEP (76% vs. 98%), knew about prescribing PrEP (28% vs. 76%), or ever had prescribed it (17% vs. 64%). PCPs limited knowledge about PrEP and questions about insurance coverage were identified as barriers to prescribing PrEP. Additional information on changes in prescribing PrEP in primary care within a large healthcare system is limited.Methods12 practices were part of a systemwide implementation of an HIV screening Electronic Medical Record (EMR) alert in October 2017 for patients ages 18–64. The 12 primary care practices were also included as part of an educational intervention regarding HIV prevention presented in the first quarter of 2018. As part of the educational intervention, information on prescribing PrEP was included along with resources for linkage-to-care and insurance coverage. The number of PrEP prescriptions were summarized for all 12 practices one year prior to the EMR alert and one-year post-EMR alert. Paired T-test statistics were used to test the number of patients prescribed PrEP by each practice pre- and post-EMR alert. The same analysis was conducted one-year pre- and post- the educational intervention.ResultsAcross the 12 practices, 62 PrEP prescriptions were written one year prior to the implementation of the EMR alert (M=5.2, SD=7.3) and 88 post-EMR alert (M=7.3, SD=6.4), a 42% increase (P = 0.02). There were no differences in PrEP prescriptions one-year pre- and post- the educational intervention (n = 69).ConclusionWhile the number of PrEP prescriptions written showed significant increase after the implementation of the EMR alert, the overall number of prescriptions in primary care are still relatively low. While there has been national attention to increase PrEP prescribing through initiatives with local health departments, efforts to increase PrEP uptake require additional interventions above and beyond education interventions to increase the knowledge, comfort, and skills of providers to prescribe PrEP.Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.