Data from AFP’s recent provider survey.
To better understand provider knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to HIV prevention, AIDS Free Pittsburgh (AFP) conducted a provider survey to assess familiarity with pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and identify opportunities to strengthen PrEP education and access across Allegheny County and the southwestern region of Pennsylvania.
The survey, conducted from September 2025 to January 2026, gathered responses from 267 UPMC healthcare providers representing a wide array of specialties including primary care, family medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology. The survey assessed PrEP knowledge, prescribing comfort, likelihood of future prescribing, and perceived barriers and facilitators to prescribing PrEP.
Only 38.9% of providers reported good or better PrEP knowledge, with substantially lower rates for PrEP side effects and monitoring requirements. Physicians demonstrated significantly higher knowledge and comfort prescribing PrEP compared with advanced practice providers. Pediatric, emergency medicine, and obstetrics–gynecology specialties showed consistently lower PrEP knowledge and prescribing comfort compared to other specialties. The most cited barriers were lack of provider training (71.3%) and insufficient clinic guidelines/protocols (63.3%). Providers strongly endorsed the need for standardized resources, electronic medical record order sets, and universal PrEP training.
These findings led AFP to its clear next step: translating provider feedback into practical resources that support routine, equitable PrEP delivery. By understanding provider knowledge gaps and systemic barriers, AFP and community partners can develop more responsive clinical tools.
In June 2026, AFP re-released its most recent edition of the PrEP Provider Toolkit following a routine review for accuracy and alignment with current guidelines. The revised toolkit directly addresses themes raised in the survey, including the need for provider training and standardized resources. It also reflects AFP’s broader role in the region as a hub of both data and resources.
A more detailed summary of this data can be found on AIDS Free Pittsburgh’s webpage here.
