The Washington State "Name-to-Code" HIV Reporting System: A Public Health Perspective

• Published in: Journal of public health management and practice 2002-11, Vol.8 (6), p.1-14
• Main Authors: Wood, Robert W., Hopkins, Sharon G., Peppert, John F., Jourden, Jack
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Decision Making, Organizational; Disease Notification - legislation & jurisprudence; Disease Notification - methods; Health technology assessment; HIV Infections - epidemiology; Humans; Leadership; Patient Identification Systems; Policy Making; Population Surveillance; Public Health Administration; Public Health Informatics; Public Opinion; Washington - epidemiology
• ISSN: 1078-4659; 1550-5022
• DOI: 10.1097/00124784-200211000-00002

The advent of highly active anti-retroviral treatment for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in the mid-1990s, along with other new developments in HIV understanding, epidemiology, and care, led local and state public health officials to recommend to the Washington State Board of Health in 1996 that asymptomatic HIV infection be added to the list of conditions reportable to public health by name. A controversy over reporting followed that lasted over two years. Although a "name-to-code" compromise had been suggested early on, it gained acceptance only after key stakeholders faced substantial public health, medical, and general community opposition to unique identifier reporting. This article describes the processes of adopting HIV reporting in Washington State, the nature of the reporting system, and how the issues were ultimately resolved.