The quality of care received by HIV patients without a primary provider. AIDS care psychological and socio-medical aspects of AIDS/HIV.

The goal of this study was to compare the quality of care received by HIV patients who report that their primary HIV care provider is a physician, a nurse practitioner (NP) or a physician assistant (PA) to that of patients who cannot identify a primary HIV provider. We used data from patients who participated in the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study (HCSUS), a study of a probability sample of non-institutionalized HIV-infected individuals in care in the US. We compared patients who did and did not name a primary HIV care provider in terms of patient and care site characteristics, and level of clinician HIV expertise. Care quality measures included receipt of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), reported problems with care, satisfaction with care, unmet needs and perceived access to care. Patients in care who did not report having a primary HIV care provider received HAART at significantly lower rates (p