HIV Testing in Nonclinical Settings
HIV testing can be done in a variety of nonclinical or community-based settings, as well as outreach sites, or in a person’s home. Nonclinical settings are easy to access and useful for people who might not be willing or able to access medical services regularly. Nonclinical settings typically provide same-day rapid HIV testing and might offer other HIV prevention services. They may also do outreach and recruitment to get high-risk populations in for HIV testing. Offering HIV testing in these settings is an effective way to bring HIV testing to the community. This section provides key references and information for persons conducting HIV testing in nonclinical settings.
CDC Guidance on HIV Testing in Nonclinical Settings
CDC issued program guidance for HIV testing providers called Implementing HIV Testing in Nonclinical Settings: A Guide for HIV Testing Providers pdf icon[PDF – 2 MB]. This guide supports the implementation of HIV testing services in nonclinical settings in the United States. The purpose of the guide is to familiarize providers with key programmatic issues that impact delivery of HIV testing services in nonclinical settings. Although this guidance is intended for CDC-funded nonclinical HIV testing providers, non-grantees may also find the content useful.
Job Aids to Support Implementing HIV Testing in Nonclinical Settings
- Protocol Cards for HIV Testing with Individuals in Nonclinical Settings pdf icon[PDF – 322 KB]
- Provider Flip Card for HIV Testing with Individuals in Nonclinical Settings pdf icon[PDF – 354 KB]
- Scripts for HIV Testing with Individuals in Nonclinical Settings pdf icon[PDF – 411 KB]
- Protocol Cards for HIV Testing Together (Couples) in Nonclinical Settings pdf icon[PDF – 327 KB]
- Provider Flip Card for HIV Testing Together (Couples) in Nonclinical Settings pdf icon[PDF – 346 KB]
- Scripts for HIV Testing Together (Couples) in Nonclinical Settings pdf icon[PDF – 460 KB]
- Frequently Asked Questions about Implementing HIV Testing in Nonclinical Settings pdf icon[PDF – 103 KB]
Implementing HIV Testing in Nonclinical Settings: A Guide for HIV Testing Providers complements the document Planning and Implementing HIV Testing and Linkage Programs in Nonclinical Settings: A Guide for Program Managers, and the Evaluation Guide for HIV Testing and Linkage Programs in Nonclinical Settings, which are both intended for HIV program managers.
Laboratory Certificate Requirements for HIV Testing in Nonclinical Settings
Nonclinical HIV testing sites using waived rapid HIV tests must either obtain their own certificate of waiver under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) or establish an agreement to work under the CLIA certificate of an existing laboratory. CLIA outlines quality standards for laboratory testing—including rapid HIV testing—to ensure the accuracy, reliability, and timeliness of patient test results. Agencies should contact their state or local health department for more information, including how to apply for a CLIA waiver. More information about CLIA certification and CLIA-waived tests, including how to establish a CLIA-waived HIV testing site, can be found on CDC’s website at the following links:
- CDC CLIA home page
- CDC CLIA of Certificate Waiver Fact Sheet
- State agency & regional office CLIA contactsexternal icon
- How to establish an Individualized Quality Control Plan (IQCP) for HIV-CLIA waived testing
- Additional resources for setting up a nonclinical testing site
HIV Testing Technologies
- Fact Sheet: False Positive HIV Test Results pdf icon[PDF – 130 KB]
- CLIA-waived rapid HIV tests pdf icon[PDF – 619 KB]
- Guidance for nonclinical HIV testing sites that use a laboratory-based algorithm
- CDC’s Rapid HIV Testing Online Training Course
Related Recommendations and Guidelines
- HIV recommendations and guidelines
- STD & HIV Screening Recommendations
- Hepatitis C Virus testing information
- Recommendations for Partner Services Programs for HIV Infection, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, and Chlamydial Infection
- Partner Services Providers Quick Guide pdf icon[PDF – 1.9 MB]
Journal Articles
Acute HIV Infection
- Screening yield of HIV antigen/antibody combination and pooled HIV RNA testing for acute HIV infection in a high-prevalence population.external icon JAMA 2016.
- Estimating per-act HIV transmission risk: A systematic review.external icon AIDS 2014.
Home-Based HIV Self-Testing
- HIV self-testing: A review of current implementation and fidelity.external icon Curr HIV/AIDS Rep 2016.
- Acceptability and feasibility of HIV self-testing among transgender women in San Francisco: A mixed methods pilot study.external icon AIDS Behav 2016.
- HIV-negative partnered men’s attitudes toward using an in-home rapid HIV test and associated factors among a sample of US HIV-negative and HIV-discordant male couples.external icon Sex Transm Dis 2015.
Linkage and Referral
- Optimizing human immunodeficiency virus testing interventions for men who have sex with men in the United States: A modeling study. pdf icon[PDF – 275 KB]external icon Open Forum Infect Dis 2015.
Prevention Counseling and HIV Testing
Targeting and Recruitment
Testing Couples Together for HIV
- Are couple-based interventions more effective than interventions delivered to individuals in promoting HIV protective behaviors? A meta analysis.external icon AIDS Care 2015.
- Risk of intimate partner violence and relationship conflict following couple-based HIV prevention counseling: Results from the harlem river couples project.external icon J Interpers Violence 2015.
- Technical assistance needs for successful implementation of couples HIV testing and counseling intervention for male couples at US HIV testing sites.external icon AIDS Behav 2015.
- The prevalence of undiagnosed HIV serodiscordance among male couples presenting for HIV testing. pdf icon[PDF – 227 KB]external icon Arch Sex Behav 2014.
Testing Technologies and Approaches
- Time until emergence of HIV test reactivity following infection with HIV-1: Implications for interpreting test results and retesting after exposureexternal icon. Clin Infect Dis 2017.
- Performance of determine combo and other point-of-care HIV tests among Seattle MSM.external icon J Clin Virol 2016.
- Using a multitest algorithm to improve the positive predictive value of rapid HIV testing and linkage to HIV care in nonclinical HIV test sites.external icon J Acqir Immune Defic Syndr 2016.
- Assessment of oral fluid HIV test performance in an HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis trial in Bangkok, Thailand.external icon PLoS ONE 2015.