1. ABSTRACT
PEER Services Hepatitis C Testing, Treatment & Care Management Program will address the inadequate
resources allocated to viral hepatitis C risk education, testing, and referral for treatment. The objectives
of this program are to strengthen our capability to provide testing to our high risk population, and to
develop a network of referral partners to ensure coordination of care and treatment specific to patients
in our opiod treatment program.
The majority of patients served by PEER Services opiod treatment program are at high risk for
contracting hepatitis C. The CDC has reported that one in 30 baby boomers born between 1945
through 1965 has been infected with hepatitis C, and should receive one time testing;1
seventy-five
percent of our client fall into this age cohort. The CDC report also stated that African Americans have a
substantially higher rate of chronic Hepatitis C infection than Caucasians and other ethnic groups;2
sixty
two percent of our patients are African American. Another high risk factor is having ever injected illicit
drugs. Our intake assessment shows that this is true for virtually 100% of our clientele.
The implementation of a rapid hepatitis C virus screening and referral program will enable our medical
and counseling staff to ensure that patients in our methadone treatment program are provided with
comprehensive hepatitis related services including 1) education for hepatitis C awareness and
prevention 2) rapid test screening 3) referral to diagnostic testing 4) access to antiviral treatment
5) counseling 6) medical monitoring, and 7) treatment maintenance.
Although we are located north of Chicago, 68% of our patients live in Chicago with the other 38%
coming from Evanston and other Chicago suburban areas. We will expand access to delivery of hepatitis
care and treatment by increasing our referral network to areas where our patients are living, and to
provide convenient access to care and to facilitate better coordination of care and services with primary
treatment providers.
Our program census treats an average of 250 patients annually and we propose to use funds awarded to
provide training of viral hepatitis risks and infection rates to each individual, and to offer rapid hepatitis
C virus screening to each undiagnosed client, with a goal of establishing affordable referral resources for
all patients who test positive, for follow-up diagnostic testing and treatment programs.
Our current patient population is 160, and 39% have no insurance coverage. We will focus on facilitating
affordable health insurance and Medicaid enrollment for these patients to increase their access to care
while increasing linkages with medical centers that provide a sliding fee scale or treatment at no cost.
We project that we will be able to enroll at a minimum, of 40 of our undiagnosed clients into the
screening program within the first year.
1
CDC. Recommendations for prevention and control of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and HCV-related chronic
disease. MMR August 17, 2012 / 61(RR04);1-18
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00055154.htm
2
Ibid