Healthcare Professionals
Donna Stidham
Chief of Managed Care
Donna Stidham, RN is the Chief of Managed Care for AIDS Healthcare Foundation. She has been involved in the care of persons with HIV disease since the first cases were identified in 1981 and began her continuous career of working with what is known now as HIV/AIDS first as a nurse epidemiologist when the first cases of immune deficiency were reported to the Centers for Disease Control. She was instrumental in 1984 in the opening of the first AIDS inpatient unit in a for profit community hospital in the nation, and has continually focused her efforts in developing systems of care that support the expertise necessary to provide medical care to persons with HIV/AIDS. She joined AIDS Healthcare Foundation in 1994 to lend her expertise in health systems and managed care in order to assist in the development and implementation of the first capitated managed care program for persons with AIDS, AHF’s Positive Healthcare®™.
Ms. Stidham has focused her energies in developing managed care systems of care for persons with HIV/AIDS and has overseen the growth and development of AHF managed care programs in California and Florida. Since 1995 the California Region of the Managed Care Division has hosted a MediCal capitated program for persons with AIDS, and in 2006 launched the nation’s first and only Special Needs Medicare Advantage-Part D Plan, Positive Healthcare Partners®™ for persons with HIV/AIDS. In 1999, the Florida Region of the Managed Care Division is home to the Agency for Health Care Administration’s (AHCA) innovative statewide Medicaid Disease Management Program for persons with HIV/AIDS. In 2005, the AHF Florida Disease Management program, Positive Healthcare®™ became the first nationally accredited HIV/AIDS Disease Management program by the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA).
The cornerstones of AHF’s Managed Care Division are assuring quality and access to:
Current evidenced based HIV/AIDS and internal medicine;
HIV/AIDS specialized systems and networks of providers;
Providing a chronic care HIV/AIDS model;
Targeted HIV/AIDS educational opportunities for all medical providers, patients, family/significant others, and the HIV community;
Providing a unique approach to a full circle of HIV health care that integrates the provider, patient and health system into a team for successful health outcomes.
Ms. Stidham is very active in consulting with multiple state Medicaid programs to promote the concept of specialty design for chronic conditions such as HIV/AIDS and is working with the Foundation’s own Global operations leadership to bring managed care health system concepts to resource poor countries.
