Provider Perspectives on the Data-to-Suppression Initiative in Ryan White Part A Housing and Behavioral Health Programs.

Abstract

The New York City "Data-to-Suppression" (D2S) initiative was launched to improve HIV viral suppression among Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part A (RWPA) clients through a combination of surveillance-based, client-level reporting and capacity-building activities with RWPA housing and behavioral health service providers. This study qualitatively examines provider perspectives on its implementation. Drawing from 8 RWPA-funded agencies participating in D2S, we conducted semistructured interviews with 24 purposively sampled providers from 8 RWPA-funded agencies participating in D2S, including patient navigators engaged in D2S outreach, patient navigator supervisors, and administrators. Interviews were conducted between August and November 2022. The interviews explored four topics: (1) D2S workflow and benefits, (2) implementation facilitators, (3) implementation barriers, and (4) areas for improvement. Providers reported that D2S was easy to implement and identified clients in need of additional support. Suggestions for improvement included issuing more timely reports, adding more detailed data to reports, and focusing the intervention on agencies where behavioral health and housing program staff do not already have access to clients' HIV care and viral suppression status. Providers described barriers such as organizational capacity constraints (e.g., hiring and retaining staffing levels) and clients' difficulty with maintaining viral suppression due to competing needs. Qualitative feedback from the providers responsible for delivering an intervention is critical to identifying refinements that could strengthen engagement in intervention implementation and thus critical to achieving and sustaining the intended impact.