TBNet
TB and Public Health
The erosion of the American public health infrastructure in the 1980s created a situation that increased the burden of tuberculosis on minorities and the poor.
TBNet is a multi-national tuberculosis patient tracking and referral project designed to work with mobile, underserved poulations. Treatment of these populations is complicated by the fact that many people, given the circumstances of their lives, are unable to remain in a given location long enough to complete the lengthy TB treatment regimen. By the mid-1990s, many clinicians and public health officials recognized the need for a way to track and coordinate the treatment of TB patients who moved between public health jurisdictions. In 1996, the Migrant Clinicians Network, working with a consortium of public health organizations, and funded by a grant from the Texas Department of Health, founded TBNet to address this very problem.
Although the program was originally created with migrant farm workers in mind, it is expanding its patient base to include the homeless, immigration detainees, prison parolees, or anyone who might be mobile during their treatment.
TBNet helps mobile TB patients complete treatment in three ways.
- First, TBNet supplies TB clinics with wallet-sized Health Network cards for their patients. These cards can easily be carried by the patient wherever they go. The toll-free number on the card enables other TB clinics to call for the patient's medical records in order to continue the patient's treatment.
- Second, TBNet maintains a central storehouse of enrollee medical records. A patient's health care provider, whether they are in the U.S., Mexico, or Central America can call TBNet on a toll free line to request an up-to-date copy of the patient’s medical record.
- Finally, mobile patients can also call TBNet on the toll free line for help locating treatment facilities at their next destination. These three systems work together to coordinate the continuous treatment of mobile TB patients.
TBNet's greatest success has been working with cases of active TB and have consistently experienced a high completion rate with those patients. Some patients have moved 4-5 times during treatment. TBNet has facilitated the tracking and transfer of records for those patients. At the conclusion of treatment, TBNet notifies the enrolling clinic as well as the state or regional TB Control person that the patient has completed treatment.
Please consider enrolling your mobile TB patients in TBNet. The program operates free of charge to both your clinic and the patient. If you would like more information about TBNet, please contact:
Nora Martinez
Health Network Coordinator
PO Box 164285
Austin, TX 78716
(800) 825-8205
nmartinez@migrantclinician.org
Health Network
Resource Categories
Featured Resources
TBNet Directory
A listing of TB Clinical Services available across the country
Lack of Weight Gain and Relapse Risk in a Large Tuberculosis Treatment Trial
This article, published in May 2006 in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, presents research that demonstrates that if a patient is underweight or does not have a significant weight gain while on therapy the relapse rate of TB is much higher than in well nourished TB patients. easily identified, even in resource-poor settings.
Monograph Series: The TBNet System
New CDC Online STD Modules Offer Free Continuing Education for Clinicians
The CDC Division of STD Prevention announces the availability of its new online STD education modules for clinicians. The Self Study STD Modules for Clinicians offers free CME, CNE, and CEU for each of seven STD topics: chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), vaginitis, herpes simplex virus (HSV) and human papillomavirus (HPV). Each module covers epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical presentation, diagnosis, treatment, prevention and partner services information along with an interactive case study.
TB Net Clinic Systems Manual
Download the current year's consent and participant information form along with the manual. Go to the website yearly to print out the years current forms.
TBNet Patient History Form
USA - Mexico Border Health
Providing assistance on health information and finding resources for the U.S. - Mexico Border Region
What is TB? (Spanish)
Your TB Test (English)
Manual for the Management of Binational Tuberculosis Patients