In this episode of Going anti-Viral, Dr Michael Saag speaks with Dr Laura Cheever who was, until recently, the Associate Administrator of the HIV/AIDS Bureau at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). She joined HRSA in 1999 when she served as the national director of the Ryan White AIDS Education and Training Center program. Dr Cheever is Board Certified in Infectious Diseases and continues to provide clinical care for patients with HIV. Dr Cheever describes her early work at HRSA and the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. Dr Cheever and Dr Saag then discuss quality measures adopted to demonstrate program effectiveness and the impact these efforts had on funding. They also discuss the staff in the program and their role in working with local providers. They address the role that private insurance, the Affordable Care Act, and different presidential administrations play in the services of the program as well as work left to be done and look ahead to the next ten years of HIV care.
0:00 – Introduction
1:40 – A discussion of Dr Cheever’s early years at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
7:51 – Implementation of national quality measures for HIV care using data collection through CAREWare
11:41 – How did new information impact decision making regarding Ryan White funding decisions
15:04 – Impact of changing guidelines on direction given to the Ryan White clinics
19:26 – The staff at HRSA and the impact of potential budget cuts on the program
24:05 – The role private insurance and the Affordable Care Act had in providing treatment through the Ryan White program
25:10 – Do different presidential administrations influence the services of the Ryan White program
27:34 – Discussion of the work left to be done
29:29 – Predictions for the next ten years of HIV care and closing remarks