An article out this week in the September-October issue of Public Health ReportsExit Disclaimer examines the development of a more standardized approach to data collection and grantee reporting requirements across HIV program activities at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The National HIV/AIDS Strategy called for such standardization as a means of fostering a more coordinated national response to HIV/AIDS in the United States. In the article, Dr. Ronald Valdiserri, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health—Infectious Diseases and Director, Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy, and his co-authors review the cross-agency collaborative process undertaken toward these ends over the past two years at HHS and discuss the public health implications of this effort. The authors highlight the fact that the adoption of these common HIV indicators will better enable efforts to meaningfully integrate critical performance data across the continuum of HIV care. They note, “We are nearing ‘the end of the beginning’ when it comes to expanding our capacity to monitor federally funded HIV/AIDS programs in an integrated, streamlined fashion.”

Commenting on the article, Dr. Valdiserri observed “the article succinctly summarizes what has been a thorough and complex collaborative process to arrive at this common set of core HIV indicators. Deployment of these indicators across HHS-supported HIV services programs—beginning in Fiscal Year 2014 which begins October 1—will enable both program managers and policymakers to better assess and address gaps in the continuum of HIV care.”Read “Measuring What Matters: Developing Standard HIV Core Indicators Across the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”Exit Disclaimer in the current issue of Public Health Reports.