www.houstontx.gov > Health
Dept. > Epidemiology > Houston Medical Monitoring Project
Houston Medical Monitoring
Project (HMMP)
Why the puzzle logo?
The idea is that HMMP
is putting together a puzzle whose pieces
include Access to Care, Quality of Life,
Prevention Services, etc.
The piece that is missing
is “you” which could be either
the provider or patient.
HMMP is a special
HIV/AIDS Surveillance Project
The
Houston Medical Monitoring Project (HMMP)
is
a special HIV/AIDS surveillance project
that is being funded by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) in collaboration
with the Houston Department of Health and Human
Services (HDHHS). Houston is one of 25
state and city sites participating in the
MMP. The project will link patient reported
behavioral information collected by questionnaire
with clinical information abstracted from medical
charts. These two sources of information
will be used to get the most accurate picture
of health care service utilization and
illnesses experienced among persons with
HIV/AIDS in Houston/Harris County.
PROJECT
GOALS The
MMP aims to gain a deeper understanding
of health-related experiences and needs of
people living with HIV/AIDS who receive HIV
care in the U.S.
The goals of the project are to: 1) provide
a wide array of local and national estimates
of behaviors and clinical outcomes of persons
in care for HIV; 2) describe health-related
behaviors; 3) determine accessibility and use
of prevention and support services; 4) increase
knowledge of the care and treatment provided;
and 5) examine variations of factors by geographic
area and patient characteristics.
SIGNIFICANCE People living with
HIV/AIDS, HIV prevention community planning
groups, Ryan White CARE Act planning councils
and consortia, providers of HIV care, and
other policy makers and
service planners
may use MMP data for planning activities. MMP will provide valuable
state and national estimates of health
care utilization, quality of care, severity
of need, and effectiveness of prevention
messages. MMP data may help estimate resource
needs for treatment and services for HIV-infected
persons. To be effective, programs
must meet the current needs of the population.
MMP data will provide contextual information
on prevention, care-seeking, treatment, and
risk behaviors which will aid in the design
and improvement of HIV programs.
PROJECT
PROCEDURES To implement the
project, state and local health departments
have identified all HIV care providers in their
respective areas. A representative sample of
these providers is then chosen. The health departments contact
all sampled providers and later, patients are
randomly selected from those providers. The
MMP has two components: a personal interview
and medical record abstraction. MMP staff
invite each selected patient to participate
in a face-to-face interview. The interview
takes approximately 45 minutes and includes
questions concerning their medical history,
use of medical and social services, and risk
behaviors.
Trained MMP medical abstractors will then collect
additional information from the patient’s
medical chart which complements the data from
the interview. MMP will take measures
to assure the project is not burdensome to
providers or participating patients. State
and local health department representatives
conduct all data collection activities
in order not to disrupt providers, their staff,
or services to their patients. Participants
are compensated for their time. All personal
and health care information collected during
the project is secure and confidential.
HOW
WILL PROVIDERS AND PATIENTS BE IDENTIFIED? Houston will use
a two-stage sampling scheme. The first
stage will randomly sample providers; the
second stage will randomly sample patients
from within providers. The sampling frame of
providers will be defined so that the likelihood
of selection will be based on the number of
cases reported. A provider is defined as a
hospital, clinic or other health facility that
keeps the patients medical records. The sampling
frame will be constructed based on providers
identified in the HIV/AIDS Reporting System
(HARS). From each provider’s patient
list, all patients who meet the specific eligibility
criteria determined by the protocol will be
included for sampling in the study. Eligibility
and stratification variables will be determined
in consultation with CDC.
WHAT IS THE TIMELINE
FOR HMMP?
The MMP is currently funded for four years,
September 2004 through May 2008.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS
OF HMMP?
The information obtained from the MMP will
provide a consistent method for state and city
health departments to measure important aspect
of morbidity, access, and use of preventive
services. It will help identify service gaps
for people in care for HIV/AIDS infection and
help focus more on provision of preventive
services.
HOW
CAN YOU HELP? Patients,
providers, and the community playa huge role
in making MMP a success. Patients and providers
who participate represent other patients and
providers who were not chosen. If you are chosen,
you are encouraged to participate. The success
of the MMP depends on you! If you are not chosen,
you can still help by encouraging others to
participate. Remember, these data will be used
to represent patients getting care for HIV
in your state and across the country. MMP results
can have a big effect on future HIV prevention,
care, and quality of life for persons living
with HIV/AIDS. Everyone's participation is
essential. Together, we can learn much more
about the ever-changing nature of HIV infection.
