Medical Discussions

Rachel Smerd – November 7, 2006[Edit]
Universal screening at Bellevue has been under way since late 2005 in the Outpatient, Urgent Care and Inpatient settings. The CDC changed its guidelines earlier this fall to recommend universal testing regardless of risk. To answer Marshall’s question, it appears that the current seropositivity rate at Bellevue is somewhere between 3-4%.

Universal screening is an important method, therefore, to prevent the further spread of HIV in addition to identifying new HIV positive patients. Furthermore, the revised testing guidelines have been able to identify patients who fell out of care. That is, patients who have been HIV+ for years but have not been in treatment are being reidentified through this process and plugged back into the health care system.