Volume 1, Issue 1

Provider and Patient Barriers to PrEP

In this issue:

Randomized trials have demonstrated that HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is highly efficacious at preventing HIV acquisition. To date, however, uptake of PrEP has been limited in the United States. One of the major barriers to implementing PrEP is limited awareness of PrEP among primary care providers. An additional barrier to scaling up PrEP is lack of awareness of PrEP among the populations that experience high rates of new HIV infections.

In this issue, Dr. Douglas Krakower from Harvard Medical School reviews recent studies that have assessed awareness of and experience with PrEP among primary care providers, differential willingness of clinicians to prescribe PrEP to people with particular risk factors for HIV acquisition, and provider biases in prescribing decisions about PrEP.

Learning objectives:

  • Discuss provider-related barriers to effective implementation of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in primary care.
  • Describe patient-related barriers to increased uptake of PrEP.
  • Summarize potential disparities in awareness and access to PrEP among priority populations with high rates of new HIV infections.

Author:

Douglas Krakower, MD
Douglas Krakower, MD

Assistant Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Staff Physician
Division of Infectious Diseases
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Boston, MA

Program Directors:

Joyce King, MD

Assistant Professor
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Director, Inpatient Medicine
Family Medicine Residency Program
Medstar Franklin Square Hospital
Baltimore, MD

Glenn Treisman, MD, PhD

Eugene Meyer III Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine
Director, AIDS Psychiatry Services
Co-Director, Chronic Pain Treatment Program
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD

Length of activity:

1.0 hour Physicians
1.0 contact hour Nurses

Launch date: June 15, 2019
Expiration date: June 14, 2021