#AskTheHIVDocFor providers interested in prescribing PrEP
For providers interested in prescribing PrEP
What I would tell a prescriber who’s thinking about offering PrEP to their clients is that it’s really not that complicated. The first thing is you want to make sure that you’re actually assessing patients, and offering it to vulnerable patients. This is not for the worried well. Right, you want to make sure that you’re offering it to vulnerable patients, and you also want to make sure that the person doesn’t already have HIV. So you want to do that HIV test first. Other than that, it’s really, really simple. You check a couple of safety labs, you check their kidney function, you check if they’ve had HIV, you check their hepatitis status, you prescribe, you follow up with them in a couple of weeks and make sure that everything is going smoothly. You make sure to see them every three months. This will become the easiest patient in your practice. Many of the patients that I prescribe to that are on PrEP, are young healthy people who really have not much else going on. So in terms of things you can bill for that are really simple, it doesn’t get much more simple than this.
Dr. Flash offers guidance for healthcare providers on the steps to prescribing PrEP.
PrEP is a major advance in HIV prevention. In addition to condoms, PrEP offers those who do not have HIV another powerful means of protection.
After you determine PrEP is a good option for someone, have them take an HIV test to ensure they do not already have the virus. After you prescribe, you will need to follow up with them in a couple of weeks to see how they are responding to the pill. If all is going well, you should prescribe three-month prescriptions and have routine check-ups four times a year.
#AskTheHIVDoc is a video series from Greater Than HIV featuring top HIV doctors providing answers to commonly-asked questions about HIV prevention, testing and treatment.
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