Effect of HIV reporting by name on use of HIV testing in publicly funded counseling and testing programs.

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Abstract
POLICIES for the confidential reporting by name of persons with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) to health departments exist in all states.1 The ability to monitor trends in the epidemic due to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been based on these AIDS case reports. In contrast, confidential reporting by name of HIV-infected adults and adolescents (aged ≥13 years) who do not meet the criteria for AIDS (HIV reporting)1 has been implemented less completely; by January 1998, only 28 states required physicians and other health care providers, including clinicians, laboratories, and institutions (eg, hospitals, clinics), to report these cases.2 Until recently, AIDS case reporting met most of the information needs of monitoring and characterizing the HIV epidemic. Because of changes in the epidemic, most notably those related to new therapies, AIDS case reports no longer provide adequate information, and HIV reporting will become increasingly important.3,4