Improving patient outcomes

AID Atlanta is the largest nonprofit provider of HIV/AIDS services in the southern region of the United States, where half of all newly reported HIV/AIDS cases originate¹ . With the goal of reducing HIV infections, improving patients’ quality of life, and breaking down barriers to build a stronger community, AID Atlanta offers testing services, education, and treatment to some 3,000 people.

But the agency wanted to do more. Even while facing regulatory and funding challenges – especially with Georgia declining to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act – AID Atlanta was looking to extend its reach and offer more comprehensive care to its target population of HIV-positive and high-risk patients.

Enter Deloitte. A team of M&A and Health Care professionals from Deloitte’s Audit & Enterprise Risk Services, Human Capital, and Strategy & Operations groups worked closely with AID Atlanta on a pro bono basis to help develop a new business model supporting the agency’s growth strategy. The model allows for a more holistic approach to patient care by offering treatment for other chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and hypertension that are common within the HIV-positive and high-risk communities. The new plan further moves the agency to a more financially sustainable revenue model over the next three years, with more funding coming from patient service fees and less from government and private grants.

“High infection rates, combined with dwindling federal and state funding, were some of the key drivers behind AID Atlanta’s desire to transform,” says Chip Newton, senior manager, Deloitte Consulting LLP and AID Atlanta’s board chair. “Providing more comprehensive care to more patients is the agency’s goal – and that includes expansion into primary care, behavioral health, pharmacy, and other services. Deloitte is committed to helping AID Atlanta in their efforts to treat the whole patient, not just the disease.”

The new model was a major factor in helping the agency secure a $5.6 million grant from the Federal Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) program, as well as a $740,000 grant from the Kaiser Foundation and an expanded line of credit of more than $2 million from Wells Fargo bank. Other signs of positive momentum arising from the plan include the opening of AID Atlanta’s new Health and Wellness Center, an on-site pharmacy and primary care facility; a new electronic medical records (EMR) system; and the hiring of new staff members to deliver the expanded services. AID Atlanta has also added the Newnan, Georgia-based Haven of Hope clinic to its network, bringing 475 new patients into the agency family.

In addition to its work on the new business model, Deloitte helped prepare a presentation for Dr. Jose Rodriguez-Diaz, AID Atlanta’s chief executive officer, to deliver to the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) in June 2014. Diaz’s message focused on the state of HIV/AIDS in the South and highlighted key challenges and opportunities for ONAP to consider as it coordinates the continuing efforts of the U.S. government to reduce the number of HIV infections across the country.

“We are so grateful for Deloitte’s involvement with AID Atlanta. I like to say that they did what they do best, providing advisory services, so we can do what we do best, which is providing patient care,” Diaz says. “As an AID Atlanta board member who works for another professional services organization put it, ‘No one does community like Deloitte does community.’ I wholeheartedly agree.”

To learn more about AID Atlanta, visit the agency’s website or contact Chip Newton.

Assisting AID Atlanta: Pro bono with passion and purpose

Weak operational capacity in the nonprofit sector is a critical issue affecting communities across the country. Nonprofit organizations are challenged to access the investment capital required to build organizational capacity and traditional volunteerism is not addressing this need.

As a leading professional services organization, Deloitte is uniquely positioned to build critical operating capacity for nonprofits. By sharing our business knowledge across the nonprofit sector through strategically selected pro bono engagements, we can empower nonprofits to more effectively serve their clients and in turn, drive more meaningful social change in the community – in this case working with AID Atlanta.

With the highest rates of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in the country² , the southern region of the United States is now considered the epicenter of America’s HIV epidemic. According to a study by the Southern AIDS Coalition, while the South accounts for just over a third of the total U.S. population, half of all newly reported HIV/AIDS cases originated there³ . Helping to stem the tide is AID Atlanta, the largest nonprofit provider of HIV/AIDS services in the Southeast. With the goal of reducing HIV infections, improving patients’ quality of life, and breaking down barriers to build a stronger community, AID Atlanta offers testing services, education, and treatment to some 3,000 people.

¹ Southern AIDS Coalition, Southern States Manifesto: Update 2012

² U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Today’s HIV/AIDS Epidemic, December 2013

³ Southern AIDS Coalition, Southern States Manifesto: Update 2012