| Abstract: | The Texas Department of Health is abandoning its unique identifiers tracking program and will begin using names to track HIV cases. Maryland is the only other State using coded numbers for HIV surveillance programs. Texas officials say that health care providers send them many reports with incorrect or abbreviated numbers, making it impossible to eliminate duplicate reports or accurately describe trends in the epidemic or treatment programs. The initial public response to the change has been mixed. Washington and Oregon, with no mandatory HIV reporting process now, are debating policies for case surveillance and may begin using unique identifiers. |
