Comprehensive Practice Transformation Model to Enhance Capacity and Improve Quality of Care in PLWHA in Miami-Dade County

The University of Miami will implement a system-level Practice Transformation Model to incorporate the core components and broad concept changes of a Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) to enhance capacity and improve quality of care in persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Miami-Dade County, FL. The project will build upon the recognized strengths of existing interdisciplinary HIV care, and incorporate strategic structural changes to optimize access, retention and clinic capacity for PLWHA. The PTM will be implemented at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center (UM/JMMC) Adult HIV Outpatient Clinic, which provides care to more than 3000 PLWHA in Miami.

The implementation and evaluation of the proposed PTM will be carried out by a Practice Transformation Team and an Evaluation Team, both to be incorporated into the existing clinic infrastructure. The Practice Transformation Team will include recruitment of new staff (Patient Navigator and Medical Assistants) under the direction of the Principal Investigator, who serves as the Clinical Director of the UM/JMMC Adult HIV Outpatient Clinic. The purpose of the Practice Transformation Team is to transform care in the clinic to be more patient-centric, while the Evaluation Team will collect data pertaining to the impact of the PTM, including clinic and quality improvement metrics, and provide ongoing feedback to the Practice Transformation Team. The sustainability of the implementation of this project will be assessed and evaluated to demonstrate how the PTM remedies current service gaps leading to improved health outcomes, enhanced clinic utilization and improved quality of care for PLWHA receiving care at the UM/JMMC Adult HIV Outpatient Clinic to ultimately permit transferability to other clinics.