A streamlined and integrated method of tracking medical records called a laboratory health information exchange narrowed the gap in anti-retroviral therapy and viral suppression between HIV-positive blacks and whites, according to UCLA researchers. Also, the use of these exchanges led to Latinos who are HIV-positive being more likely than whites of using anti-retroviral therapy and improving viral suppression.
At the beginning, blacks in the study used antiretroviral therapy about 25 percent less often than whites did, but, their rates were equivalent by the end. Similarly blacks began the study with 25 percent lower rates of viral suppression than whites, but their rates were equivalent by the end.
