Telepharmacy service brings HIV preventive to rural Iowans.

Abstract

An innovative telepharmacy service in Iowa offers convenience and discretion while delivering the benefits of preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to people in rural parts of the state who are at risk for HIV infection. Angela Hoth, clinical pharmacist for University of Iowa (UI) Health Care and project manager for TelePrEP, described the program as “a public health-partnered, virtual pharmacist telemedicine model to provide HIV prevention within Iowa.” “What that means,” she explained, “is that we partner with public health to identify people who may benefit from PrEP.” The Iowa Department of Public Health’s 2017 HIV surveillance report stated that 125 Iowans were newly diagnosed with HIV infection that year and 2,790 were living with HIV. Federal guidelines recommend PrEP—in most cases, a daily oral fixed-dose combination regimen consisting of 200 mg of emtricitabine and 300 mg of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate—for patients at substantial risk for HIV infection. A PrEP indication was approved in 2012 for Truvada, Gilead Sciences Inc.’s emtricitabine–tenofovir disoproxil fumarate combination product.