The National HIV Telephone Consultation Service (Warmline): a clinical resource for physicians caring for African-Americans.

The National HIV Telephone Consultion Service (Warmline) at San Francisco General Hospital is a free clinical consultation service that provides expert medical and clinical pharmacy guidance to clinicians caring for patients with HIV/AIDS. Consultation can be especially useful when making critically important decisions about antiretroviral therapy and opportunistic infections. The Warmline has served an essential role for the many clinicians who are not AIDS experts but play key roles In HIV care, but do not have ready access to expert consultation. In addition, the Warmline serves a a medical and clinical pharmacy resource to other AID experts. Because the AIDS epidemic in the US profoundly affects African-Americans, the Warmline can be a valuable resource for African-American physicans and clinicians caring for African-American patients.