New Strategies Increase HCV Testing in Primary Care, ER and Linkages to Care

Given how common the viral infection is, routine Hepatitis C virus (HCV) testing is not performed often enough. The majority of those infected are unaware of their status and many infected patients are diagnosed late—after decades of infection when HCV-related complications have set in. Previous surveys identified barriers providers cite for not implementing testing, like the one-time, universal testing of baby boomers recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These barriers include the time required to identify risk factors from a patient history; the need to discuss sensitive or stigmatized behaviors; uncertainty that insurance would not cover HCV testing or treatment; and concern that identified patients could access HCV care. But new models to increase routine testing and improve linkages to follow-up care may be scalable. Two new studies published in the June special supplement issue of Public Health Reports show that HCV testing can be expanded in both primary care and the hospital and effectively linked to follow-up care. Testing in Federally Qualified Health Centers As part of CDC’s Hepatitis Testing and Linkage to Care initiative, the National Nursing Centers Consortium (Philadelphia, Penn.) integrated routine, opt-out HCV testing and linkage-to-care model at five Federally Qualified […]