Hepatitis C
Conditions
Keywords
preventative screening, electronic health records, personal health records, population health tools
Brief summary
This study involves randomizing patients due for once in a lifetime Hepatitis C screening based on Center for Disease Control and Prevention and United States Preventative Services Task Force guidelines in one of three primary care clinics within the MetroHealth System to bulk messaging and bulk ordering for HCV antibody vs usual care (routine alerting).
Detailed description
All patients had to have an active personal health record account at the time of being randomized. Patients had to have been seen by their primary care provider in the last 6 months to be eligible and therefore had a missed opportunity for Hepatitis C screening. Control group received usual care which in our system included alert (health maintenance reminder) to the primary care provider at the time of the visit and passive alert in their personal health record (i.e. an alert if they log into their personal health record and look for reminders for preventative care that it due/overdue). Intervention group received same care as control group plus automatic ordering of the hepatitis C screening test and active electronic letter their personal health record that they were due for hepatitis C screening, what hepatitis C is, what the testing and if positive, treatment could involve, and instruction to go to one of the laboratories in the healthcare system to have their blood drawn if they were interested in the testing.
Interventions
OTHERBulk ordering and bulk messaging
Patients in the intervention group had the hepatitis screening test ordered for them in bulk and then a bulk message sent to them through the personal health record describing hepatitis C and how they could be tested.
OTHERRoutine alerting
Passive alerting to providers (during face-to-face encounters using the electronic health record) and to patient (when they review preventative screening recommendations through their personal health record).
Sponsors
MetroHealth Medical Center
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SCREENING
Masking
DOUBLE (Caregiver, Investigator)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
51 Years to 71 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* seen recently in one of the three primary care study sites and have an active person health record at the time of randomization; and meet Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/United States Preventative Services Task Force guidelines for once in a lifetime hepatitis C screening
Exclusion criteria
* already had once in a lifetime screen for hepatitis C or positive for hepatitis C (by lab test or International Classification of Disease code)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Impact on hepatitis C antibody testing rates at 12 weeks post direct patient messaging | 12 weeks post-intervention | Number of patients who remain untested for HCV at 12 weeks post direct patient messaging |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Impact of bulk ordering vs bulk messaging and bulk ordering on HCV antibody testing rates | 12 weeks post-intervention | Assessment of if the patient in the intervention group seemed have the hepatitis screening done just because they were having other blood work done versus specifically wanting to be screened for hepatitis C. |
Outcome results
None listed