Expanding Primary Care Capacity to Treat Hepatitis C

This report describes CDC-funded programs in Utah and Arizona to improve access to primary care providers with the ability to manage and treat HCV infection. The programs were modeled on the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (Project ECHO) developed by the University of New Mexico’s Health Sciences Center in 2003 to build primary care capacity to treat disease in rural underserved areas using videoconferencing and case based learning in “teleECHO” clinics. Researchers analyzed number of patients initiating treatment and patient outcome data for each program to determine its effectiveness. In both states Project ECHO was successfully implemented with 66 primary care clinicians from mostly rural settings. Almost all (93 percent) of clinicians had no previous experience in treating HCV infection. Findings demonstrate Project ECHO’s ability to expand primary care capacity to treat HCV infection particularly among underserved populations.