The cascade of HIV care in the United States has become a focus for interventions aimed at improving the success of HIV treatment. The Atlanta VA Medical Center (AVAMC) Infectious Disease Clinic (IDC) is an urban clinic that provides care for over 1,400 people living with HIV (PLHIV) annually. Using data from the HIV Atlanta VA Cohort Study (HAVACS), we modeled the continuum of care in the AVAMC IDC and explored similarities and differences with national models. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 1,474 individuals receiving care in the AVAMC IDC. We estimated total PLHIV and defined several categories within the spectrum of HIV care. We then developed the continuum of care using two methodologies. The first required each stage to be a dependent subset of the immediate upstream stage. The second allowed each stage to be independent of upstream stages. Dependent stage categorization estimated that 95.3% of individuals were diagnosed with HIV, 89.8% of individuals were linked to care, 73.0% of individuals were retained in care, 65.9% of individuals were eligible for antiretroviral treatment (ART), 62.8% were prescribed ART, and 52.4% had a suppressed viral load (VL). Independent stage categorization estimated that 83.9% of individuals were prescribed ART and 61.5% had a suppressed VL. Our analyses showed that the AVAMC IDC estimates were significantly better than national estimates at every stage. This may reflect the benefits of a universal healthcare system. We propose the use of independent stages for the continuum as this more accurately represents healthcare utilization.

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Institutional barriers in HIV primary care settings can contribute substantially to disparities in retention in HIV treatment and HIV-related outcomes. This qualitative study compared the perceptions of clinic experiences of persons living with HIV (PLWH) in a Veterans Affairs HIV primary care clinic setting who were retained in care with the experiences of those who were not retained in care. Qualitative data from 25 in-depth interviews were analyzed to identify facilitators and barriers to retention in HIV care. Results showed that participants not retained in care experienced barriers to retention involving dissatisfaction with clinic wait times, low confidence in clinicians, and customer service concerns. For participants retained in care, patience with procedural issues, confidence in clinicians, and interpersonal connections were factors that enhanced retention despite the fact that these participants recognized the same barriers as those who were not retained in care. These findings can inform interventions aimed at improving retention in HIV care.

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