Targeting Effective Analgesia in Clinics for HIV - Intervention (TEACH)

The "Targeting Effective Analgesia in Clinics for HIV" (TEACH) Study will test the effectiveness of a collaborative care intervention directed toward HIV physicians to improve the management of chronic opioid therapy (COT) and reduce the misuse of prescription opioids among HIV-infected persons.

The intervention is composed of the following elements: 1) collaboration with an IT enabled nurse care manager; 2) physician education and academic detailing; and 3) facilitated access to a specialist in addictions to help manage the most challenging HIV-infected patients on COT. The nurse care manager will utilize an electronic registry to assist physicians in implementing guideline-driven care including opioid treatment agreements, urine drug testing (UDT), random pill counts and checking of online Prescription Monitoring Programs (PMPs). Physicians in the control group will receive information summarizing guidelines for COT but will not have access to the support of the TEACH intervention. This study is multi-site and will be conducted at Boston Medical Center and Grady Hospital (teaching hospital of Emory University). The 2-site study will use a cluster randomized trial design, randomized at the level of the physician, and compare primary outcomes over one year. The Specific Aims are to test the effectiveness of the TEACH collaborative care program to achieve the following: Aim 1 - to test whether the TEACH collaborative care program improves HIV physicians' adherence to guidelines for prescribing COT compared to standard practice; Aim 2 - to assess whether patient level outcomes improve as a result of the TEACH intervention; Aim 3 - to test whether the intervention increases HIV physicians' satisfaction with prescribing COT; and Aim 4 - to assess whether the intervention improves virologic control among HIV-infected patients who are on COT. If effective, implementation of the intervention in HIV clinics will enable physicians in clinical teams to deliver chronic opioid therapy according to established guidelines with more confidence, potentially resulting in less prescription drug abuse and improved HIV outcomes.

There are two distinct components to the study. The intervention, outlined in this Clinical Trials Protocol Registration and Results System (PRS) summary, involves consenting physicians as participants in a randomized controlled trial of an intervention and, via a waiver of informed consent, extracting patient level data on the physicians' patients from the electronic medical record. The patient cohort component, which is outlined in a separate Clinical Trials PRS summary, will involve recruiting and consenting patients in the HIV clinic on COT to be participants in an observational study, which will involve interviewing them to collect self-reported data and conducting medical chart reviews.

If effective, implementation of the TEACH intervention in clinics will enable physicians who provide primary care to HIV-infected patients in clinical teams to deliver chronic opioid therapy according to established guidelines with more confidence, potentially resulting in less prescription drug abuse and improved HIV outcomes.