01 Aug Winner of 2024 Cesar Augusto Caceres Award for Innovations in HIV Prevention and Care Announced
Technology used to screen for social needs among people with HIV.
WASHINGTON, DC: The American Academy of HIV Medicine and the Institute for Technology in Health Care have awarded the 2024 Cesar Augusto Caceres Award for Innovations in HIV Prevention and Care to Jessica Ridgway, MD, MS, the medical director of adult ambulatory HIV care at UChicago Medicine. The award acknowledges outstanding contributions to HIV care and prevention and the advancement of health care through the creative use and application of technology.
The program at UChicago Medicine builds on the work of using patient portals to screen for depression, anxiety and substance use disorder (SUD) among people with HIV (PWH) who do not regularly go to clinic visits. Dr. Ridgway’s program is extending that outreach by screening for social needs – such as housing, transportation and food insecurity – for PWH. The clinic had begun to incorporate in-person screening for social needs during health care visits, but Dr. Ridgway and her team realized that those who are out of care or not attending regular appointments would be missed in these screenings.
“We are so grateful that our program has been chosen for this award,” says Dr. Ridgway. “Strategies for increasing social needs screening and meeting those needs are extremely important given that social determinants of health have a significant impact on people with HIV. The funding from the Caceres Award will help support the important goals of our program.”
Patient portals have been shown to increase patients’ engagement in their care. By using patient portals to screen for reasons people are unable to make it to appointments – such as lack of transportation or unstable housing – the program at UChicago Medicine can connect people with community resources that can meet those needs. The clinic is located on the southside of Chicago and serves two of the three community areas in Illinois with the highest economic hardship index scores in 2017. The economic hardship index measures economic conditions based on crowded housing, education, income, poverty and unemployment. By serving areas with some of the highest needs in the state, UChicago Medicine is poised to make a positive impact on the quality of life for PWH.
In its thirteenth year, the Cesar Augusto Caceres Award for Innovations in HIV Prevention and Care seeks to promote efficacious innovations developed in clinical settings that are designed to prevent, treat and care for people with or at risk of HIV. The award honors the legacy of Dr. Cesar Caceres, founder of the Institute for Technology in Health Care.
Dr. Ridgway will be hosting an Academy webinar later this year to discuss the program, its outcomes and how other providers could adopt these practices to improve patient care.
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About the American Academy of HIV Medicine
The American Academy of HIV Medicine is the nation’s leading independent organization of health care professionals dedicated to providing excellence in HIV care and prevention. Our membership of practitioners and credentialed clinicians manage the health of the majority of people with and at risk of HIV in the United States.
About the Institute for Technology in Health Care
The Institute for Technology in Health Care is a non-profit organization, located in Washington, DC. The Institute for Technology in Health Care is concerned with the use of technology to benefit and stimulate others in health care. For more information about The Institute for Technology in Health Care, please visit the website at www.ithcawards.org.