At a time when it is widely recognized that new methodologies and innovations for HIV treatment and prevention are needed to truly end the epidemic, long-acting injectable medications have become available for both purposes, however rollout has been slowed by insurance intricacies, process development difficulty, and operational resistance. Trillium Health and Evergreen Health were early adopters to injectable HIV medication, building processes to facilitate access and understand the necessity to embrace new options that go beyond pill-based regimens. The panel of presenters will be prepared with experience and data on operationalizing injectable medication, demographics of patients taking injectable medication, insurance approval rates, process errors, lessons learned, reasons patients seek injectables, reasons patients transition back to pills, and lived experience taking injectable medication. The presentation’s direction will be led entirely by the audience’s interest, built entirely on a Q&A format the prioritizes what the community is thinking about as facilitators and barriers to injectable medications as a provider or a patient, process pain points, and understanding the opportunities presented by injectable medication.   

Presenters: Maria Cruz, Evergreen Health; Alex Danforth, PharmD, Trillium Health; Sarah Sak, PharmD, Trillium Health; Aanya Wood, Evergreen Health 

Moderator: Matthew Crehan Higgins, Evergreen Health