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Several studies have demonstrated that patients who miss scheduled appointments have unfavorable clinical outcomes. A recent study extends this observation to privately insured patients.
The study involved adults who received a diagnosis of HIV infection between 1997 and 2007 at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, excluding those who died <1 year after diagnosis. Follow-up was conducted through the end of 2009. In all, 2811 patients (88% male, 50% white, 21% black, 18% Latino) were eligible for analysis; 62% reported being a man who has sex with men as their HIV risk factor. Only 2% had public insurance. At diagnosis, the median CD4 count was 310 cells/mm3, and the median viral load was 39,984 copies/mL
Sixty-six percent of the participant…