Single Source Procurement: End of AIDS - HIV Screening in Dental Clinics - Pilot Program
Pursuant to New York State Finance Law § 163.10(b), The New York State Department of Health is presenting the following summary of relevant circumstances, and material and substantial reasons why a competitive procurement was not feasible.
On June 29, 2014, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced a three-point plan to end the AIDS epidemic in New York State. A 60-member Ending the Epidemic (ETE) Task Force was established and charged with advising New York State Department of Health on strategies to achieve the goals outlined in the Governor's plan. On April 29, 2015, the Governor received the Task Force's 2015 Blueprint (BP) to Ending the Epidemic that included 30 recommendations in support of the Governor's plan to:
- identify persons with HIV who remain undiagnosed and link them to health care;
- link and retain persons diagnosed with HIV in health care to maximize virus suppression so they remain healthy and prevent further transmission; and
- facilitate access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for high-risk persons to keep them HIV negative.
To identify people with undiagnosed HIV infection, the Blueprint offered specific suggestions to "make routine HIV testing in NYS truly routine", including the administration of routine HIV testing in care settings "such as dental offices, pharmacies and mental health facilities" (ETE 2015 Blueprint, Recommendation #1 [BP1]).
In response to BP1, the AIDS Institute seeks to provide funding support implementation of a new HIV testing initiative that targets dental care patients in low-income and underserved communities in Long Island, Rochester, and Buffalo. Three individual grants will be awarded to the three dental schools in New York State, outside of New York City, to implement HIV testing programs that offer HIV screening tests to dental care patients present for services in designated dental clinics, urgent dental care centers, and partnering sites in the communities. All three institutions have established local partnerships with dental care providers in communities serving low-income and underserved populations, and seek to engage local partners to offer HIV testing in their practices.
HIV testing in the dental chair is an unexplored or under-explored venue to offer HIV rapid testing using oral fluid (Siegel et al 2012). Current health care statistics showed that 58% to 75% of US population visited a dentist annually, with 62% of adults aged 18-64 receiving dental care services in 2013 (NHIS 2013). Scientific literature on patients' attitudes toward HIV testing in the dental chair indicated overall positive receptivity, with an estimated 55% to 80% of dental patients agreeing to be tested if offered the HIV test by a dental care professional. A competitive procurement is anticipated in the future if the pilot is successful.
| Procurement / Program Name | End of AIDS - HIV Screening in Dental Clinics - Pilot Program |
|---|---|
| Contractor Name(s) | RF SUNY Buffalo, University of Rochester, RF SUNY Stony Brook |
| Contract Period | 1/1/2016 – 3/31/2017 |
| Contract Number(s) | C30955GG, C30956GG, C30957GG |
