Free Newsletter Subscriptions Through Medical Practices, Clinics
AIDS Treatment News is starting a program to help physicians and clinics provide free subscriptions to treatment newsletters (ours and others) for patients who want them.One model for this program is the experience at Marin County Specialty Clinic, which serves many low-income clients and for over a year has provided free subscriptions to AIDS Treatment News to about 200 patients. We ship the issues to the clinic, which mails them to the individuals, so that their names are not given to anyone (the clinic already has them). [We could also mail the issues directly from AIDS Treatment News--in which case, to maintain confidentiality, the physician's office could give its patients a form which they could send us for a free subscription for themselves or someone they choose, and the medical practice would not need to mail the issues itself.] The group subscription at Marin County Specialty Clinic was funded by grants from pharmaceutical companies--whose representatives are often looking for ways to help doctors. AIDS Treatment News was not involved in arranging the funding.
Medical Director Craig Lindquist, M.D., Ph.D., noted, "We have used AIDS Treatment News to complement our other patient education, and have found it an extraordinarily helpful source of information that can be disseminated on a regular basis. The quality of reporting and the breadth of topics may be unmatched in general HIV publications. We have received many compliments from patients about the program; we have received questions from patients that have arisen from their reading articles in AIDS Treatment News. We have extended subscriptions to community agencies, and to some private practices who do not have the resources for patient education, and the responses have been very supportive. The pharmaceutical companies have also been enthusiastic; they can see that objective information is reaching all patients equally." Any practitioner who wants to know more about how the program was set up at the Marin Specialty Clinic can call Dr. Lindquist at 415-499-7377.
How the Program Works
Mechanics: Physicians can mail our newsletter from their office to their patients if they want to, or they can have us mail the newsletter, or they distribute copies in their office or waiting room when patients visit. If we mail the newsletter, we will provide physicians with free-subscription order forms which they can give to their patients, so that the medical practice never needs to give names or addresses of patients to us. Subscriptions can be changed or discontinued at any time, and remaining money will be refunded to the doctor's office.
Funding: Physicians and other medical professionals are frequently in touch with pharmaceutical-company representatives, who often take the initiative in asking how they could be helpful. It may be easy to get funding for providing treatment information to patients.
Because of our policy of not accepting grants from companies whose products we might cover, AIDS Treatment News cannot be involved in negotiating funding from the companies; and we must be paid by the clinic or medical practice, not by the companies. If the clinic can find the funding, we can handle the paperwork to set up the subscriptions. The funding can also pay for the clinic's administrative expenses if necessary.
To avoid concerns about our independence, we are not willing to have a corporate logo or message stamped on or mailed with our newsletter. But the funding can be acknowledged in other ways, such as a letter from the medical practice explaining the program to patients.
For more information or to set up a group subscription under this program, contact AIDS Treatment News, phone 800-TREAT-1-2 or 415-255-0588 (10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday Pacific time, or leave a message any time), or fax to 415-255-4659, or email aidsnews@aidsnews.org.
Comment
The changing demographics of the epidemic have raised questions about how independent AIDS treatment information can be supported. Treatment newsletters are never covered by health insurance, and are finding it harder to rely on out-of-pocket expenses from their readers.
Industry, government, and charitable donations each have advantages and disadvantages in supporting treatment information. The best approach may be to fund medical practices and let physicians choose, instead of funding specific materials and giving the physicians a take-it-or-leave-it choice.
