Southern Central AIDS Education Telehealth Training Center (SCAETTC)

SCAETTC is uniquely positioned to respond to this RFP as it builds on longstanding successful delivery of clinical, educational and research activities by the University of Kentucky (UK), to patients and providers in medically underserved Kentucky. SCAETTC will leverage the existing infrastructure of the Kentucky Local Performance Site of the Southeast AIDS Training and Education Center (KY LPS), a HRSA funded AIDS Education Training Center that delivers HIV medical education to providers. SCAETTC will collaborate with University of Kentucky Healthcare Continuing Education Central (UKHCCEC), an accredited full service continuing education program for clinicians which uses sophisticated web-based tools with worldwide reach. In addition SCAETTC will collaborate with Kentucky Telehealth Network (KTHN), a statewide interactive videoconference network that brings specialized healthcare resources from UK to community healthcare facilities across Kentucky. The SCAETTC will expand access to, and improve health and health outcomes for hard-to-reach, HIV-positive persons residing in medically underserved areas (MUA). The efforts of SCAETTC will enhance the capacity of community-based clinicians engaged in HIV health care delivery systems in the state of KY and throughout the US through the utilization of telehealth technology for clinical consultation, education and training, and development of an informed support system for trainees built on the infrastructures of the previously established KTHN, UKHCCEC, and KY LPS. Proposed Services: A multimodal educational approach will be initiated. We propose to build and launch on UKHCCEC, accredited enduring materials, available 24/7 to augment content delivered live via KTHN. To meet the diverse educational training needs of community-based providers’ live, needs assessment based activities will be used: clinical case conferences, skills building trainings, clinical consultations, technical assistance, and an eLearning Community. SCAETTC will provide education and training on HIV management, including co-infection with hepatitis and behavioral health concerns. Population Group(s) To Be Served: We have identified 91 counties in KY that have been designated as Medically Underserved Populations (MUP) and/or MUA. These areas will be cross referenced with disease prevalence maps to identify those MUP/MUA’s that coincide with counties with low prevalence. The four Ryan White Clinics in the state of KY will be asked to contribute names of primary care providers who (1) refer patients to their services, or (2) currently provide primary care services to their patients. We will establish and train 10 multidisciplinary teams, with 2-6 culturally diverse clinicians on each team. One provider who is a key prescriber will be appointed team leader for each site. Key providers will provide primary care to fewer than 25 HIV patients. In addition, enduring materials and eLearning Communities have the capacity to reach learners nationwide.