About MMP

Welcome to the Medical Monitoring Project.  The Medical Monitoring Project (MMP) is a surveillance project designed to learn more about the experiences and needs of people who are receiving care for HIV. It is supported by several government agencies and conducted by state and local h ealth departments along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

MMP will help answer the following questions:

• How many people living with HIV/AIDS are receiving care for HIV?
• How easy is it to access care and use prevention and support services?
• What needs of persons living with HIV/AIDS are not met?
• How is treatment affecting people living with HIV/AIDS?

Ultimately, this project will describe met and unmet needs for HIV care and prevention services. This information can be used to evaluate these services and guide policy and funding decisions aimed at improving the quality of care for people living with HIV/AIDS throughout the U.S.

Importance/Significance

MMP is important because it is the most comprehensive project of its kind. It will provide information about the behaviors, medical care, and health status of people living with HIV/AIDS.

MMP is unique in that it provides comprehensive clinical and behavioral information from patient samples carefully selected to represent everyone receiving medical care for HIV in the U.S. Because MMP’s national estimates will be representative, information gathered from MMP may be used by prevention planning groups, policy leaders, health care providers, and people living with HIV/AIDS to highlight disparities in care and services and advocate for additional resources.

Project Overview

MMP uses three stages to achieve annual representative samples of adults receiving HIV/AIDS care in the U.S.

First Stage: State Level All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico were eligible for inclusion in MMP.   A sample was selected proportional to size based on existing HIV/AIDS cases within each area.   A total of 16 states and 1 U.S. territory were selected based on the availability of funds. The selected states included  6 separately funded cities, resulting in 23 participating  project areas. The project areas selected are estimated to include over 80% of the total HIV/AIDS cases in the U.S.

Second Stage: Health Care Facility Level Outpatient HIV medical care facilities in the sampled project areas are sampled every two years based on the number of patients seen at the facilities. The annual sample of facilities includes about 25-50 facilities from each project area representing small, medium, and large HIV medical care facilities. Facilities are eligible to participate if they prescribe antiretroviral medications or order CD4 and/or HIV viral load tests in the context of treating and managing HIV. Facility participation is very important—health care facilities that participate represent similar health care facilities that were not selected to participate.

Third Stage: Patient Level A sample of about 400 patients from each project area is selected each year from  participating health care facilities.  Patients must be at least 18 years old, diagnosed with HIV, and receiving care.   Patients who are selected are asked to participate in an interview and answer questions about their HIV care.    Patient participation is very important – patients who participate represent patients like them that were not selected to participate.

Confidentiality

Protocols are strictly followed at the project area and national level to ensure the integrity, confidentiality, and security of all MMP data. All information collected will be kept confidential including health care facility, health care provider, and patient names. Facility, provider, and patient names are NOT sent to CDC and will NOT be used in any reports. Names or other identifying information are not collected.