VMS BioMarketing Chosen by the State of Indiana to Provide HIV Education Programs

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Mar 06, 2018, 10:00 ET

INDIANAPOLIS, March 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- VMS BioMarketing, a leading provider of patient support solutions, has announced the launch of a new initiative to provide HIV education and support throughout the state of Indiana. This program will increase awareness, understanding, and use of testing and treatment services, which can reduce the risk of spreading disease. The educational programs will be funded through the Indiana State Department of Health, which recently received a $26 million award from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration to provide services to individuals diagnosed with HIV. It is the largest award for HIV services in Indiana history.

Andrea Heslin Smiley, President and CEO of VMS BioMarketing

This marks the entrance into a new market for VMS BioMarketing. Previously, VMS has been 100% focused on providing solutions for pharmaceutical and biotech customers. VMS executional and strategic expertise made it a natural choice to deliver this type of work. "We saw that there was a need to provide support to people in our own backyard and felt it was important that we share our expertise in patient education and empowerment with the state," said Andrea Heslin Smiley, CEO and President of VMS BioMarketing.

VMS BioMarketing Clinical Educators (CEs) and social workers, in conjunction with The Damien Center – Indiana's oldest and largest AIDS service organization (ASO) – will identify why people living with HIV have fallen out of care and coach them back into care services. The CEs will also train physicians on the front line how to better identify high-risk individuals and have the conversations with them about HIV screening and treatment, thereby linking more people into services and retaining them in care.

"Thousands of patients have fallen out of care, and due to a lack of resources, these individuals cannot always be contacted to be encouraged to move back into care," said Smiley. The resources from the CE program combined with The Damien Center will address this current gap. "Additionally, while infectious disease physicians receive extensive HIV education and training, primary care physicians and other healthcare professionals – particularly in rural areas – often do not receive the same types of training. Activating patients into care and training healthcare professionals to support those patients is the focus of this education program and aligned with the mission of VMS to empower people and help them better engage in their health."

"VMS CEs are highly specialized leaders in their field, with both clinical expertise in caring for people with chronic and life-threatening diseases as well as extensive skills in patient and provider education. The partnership between our two organizations will prove to be unparalleled due to the exceptional expertise in HIV care from The Damien Center and executional expertise in training from VMS BioMarketing. Our combined forces afford an unprecedented opportunity to make a significant impact on HIV awareness in Indiana," Smiley said.

About VMS BioMarketing:
VMS BioMarketing is a leading provider of patient support solutions focused on empowering patients and healthcare providers through education, training, and ongoing health coaching. For more than 20 years, VMS has been dedicated to enabling Clinical Educators to provide the personalized support necessary to help patients successfully start and stay on therapy. VMS clients include the world's leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. To learn more, please visit www.vmsbiomarketing.com.

About The Damien Center:
The mission of The Damien Center is to empower communities and persons affected by HIV/AIDS in the state of Indiana by being a leading resource, provider, and advocate for comprehensive HIV/AIDS care, prevention, education, and related services. To learn more, please visit www.damien.org.

Contact: Abigail Mallon
317-805-6600, Ext. 225
[email protected]

SOURCE VMS BioMarketing