Addressing the Need for HIV Specialists: the AAHIVM Perspective

HIV medicine is a complex and rapidly changing field that requires experienced care providers. Clinical research has shown what has always been intuitive: providers with more experience have patients with better outcomes, and the resultant decrease in morbidity, mortality, and inpatient costs of expert care are cost-effective. As a result, there is a need to identify providers who can give the best quality care to persons living with HIV/AIDS. The American Academy of HIV Medicine has established a credentialing process to identify HIV specialists who demonstrate continuing competency in key aspects of HIV medicine from among a broad range of HIV health care providers. Several other organizations have attempted to identify qualified HIV medical providers but differ in key aspects of their definition of an HIV expert, with differing effects on the quality of health care delivered to persons living with HIV/AIDS. There is a need for all interested parties to come together to find solutions; to address the need for, and barriers to, increasing the number of HIV specialists; and to come to a consensus about the best way to ensure quality care for all those living with HIV/AIDS.