Missed linkage to care for patients who screened positive for Hepatitis C in a tertiary care centre: Results of the Telepass project
Francesca Romana Ponziani
Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Institute of Special Medical Pathology and Medical Semeiotics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorFrancesco Santopaolo
Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorMassimo Siciliano
Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Institute of Special Medical Pathology and Medical Semeiotics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorAntonio Giulio De Belvis
Critical Pathways and Outcomes Evaluation Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, IRCCS, Institute of Public Health, Section of Hygiene, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorAnnalisa Tortora
Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorVincenzina Mora
Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Institute of Special Medical Pathology and Medical Semeiotics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorCaterina Fanali
Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Institute of Special Medical Pathology and Medical Semeiotics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorAlisha Morsella
Critical Pathways and Outcomes Evaluation Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, IRCCS, Institute of Special Medical Pathology and Medical Semeiotics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorFulvio Balducci
Planning, Control and Private Activity Management, San Giovanni Calibita Fatebenefratelli Hospital, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorGiuseppe Vetrugno
Risk Management Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorMaria Elena D’Alfonso
Operational Programming, Reception and Access, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorAndrea Cambieri
Medical Management, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorRoberto Cauda
Infectious Diseases, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Institute of Infectious Diseases, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorRocco Bellantone
Endocrine and Metabolic Surgery, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Institute of Surgical Semeiotics, Istituto di Semeiotica Chirurgica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorMaurizio Sanguinetti
Laboratory and Infectious Sciences Department, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Institute of Microbiology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorMaurizio Pompili
Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Institute of Special Medical Pathology and Medical Semeiotics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Antonio Gasbarrini
Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Institute of Special Medical Pathology and Medical Semeiotics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Correspondence
Antonio Gasbarrini, Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorFrancesca Romana Ponziani
Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Institute of Special Medical Pathology and Medical Semeiotics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorFrancesco Santopaolo
Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorMassimo Siciliano
Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Institute of Special Medical Pathology and Medical Semeiotics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorAntonio Giulio De Belvis
Critical Pathways and Outcomes Evaluation Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, IRCCS, Institute of Public Health, Section of Hygiene, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorAnnalisa Tortora
Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorVincenzina Mora
Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Institute of Special Medical Pathology and Medical Semeiotics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorCaterina Fanali
Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Institute of Special Medical Pathology and Medical Semeiotics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorAlisha Morsella
Critical Pathways and Outcomes Evaluation Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, IRCCS, Institute of Special Medical Pathology and Medical Semeiotics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorFulvio Balducci
Planning, Control and Private Activity Management, San Giovanni Calibita Fatebenefratelli Hospital, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorGiuseppe Vetrugno
Risk Management Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorMaria Elena D’Alfonso
Operational Programming, Reception and Access, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorAndrea Cambieri
Medical Management, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorRoberto Cauda
Infectious Diseases, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Institute of Infectious Diseases, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorRocco Bellantone
Endocrine and Metabolic Surgery, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Institute of Surgical Semeiotics, Istituto di Semeiotica Chirurgica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorMaurizio Sanguinetti
Laboratory and Infectious Sciences Department, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Institute of Microbiology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorMaurizio Pompili
Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Institute of Special Medical Pathology and Medical Semeiotics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Antonio Gasbarrini
Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Institute of Special Medical Pathology and Medical Semeiotics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
Correspondence
Antonio Gasbarrini, Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorFrancesca Romana Ponziani and Francesco Santopaolo contributed equally to this study.
Abstract
Italy is one of the countries on track with the WHO’s agenda to eliminate hepatitis C virus (HCV) by 2030. Healthcare facilities play a crucial role in seeking patients who are infected but have not yet been treated. We assessed the effectiveness of a recall strategy, named ‘Telepass’ project, for patients exposed to HCV infection who have not yet been linked to care in a large tertiary care centre. The ‘Telepass’ project was structured in two phases: (a) a retrospective analysis first identified all anti–HCV-positive subjects among patients who underwent pre-operative assessment in the facility in the course of one year; (b) a following prospective phase, aimed to recall patients in need either of further diagnostic tests (ie HCV-RNA) or treatment. A total of 12246 records of patients tested for HCV antibodies were reviewed. The overall prevalence of anti–HCV-positive subjects was 1.83% (224/12246) with a male/female ratio of 2.07. Out of the 224 anti–HCV-positive patients, 123 (54.91%) did not have documented HCV-RNA tests and were therefore selected for recall. Of these, 123 were reachable and 26 (21.13%) were successfully linked to care. Ten patients (38.46%) tested HCV-RNA positive and initiated treatment with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). The Telepass study highlights that a recall strategy starting from internal hospital databases can help identify patients with chronic HCV infection who have not yet been linked to care, and provides an epidemiological insight into the prevalence of HCV infection in Italy in the late DAAs era.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.
Supporting Information
| Filename | Description |
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| jvh13465-sup-0001-FigS1.docxWord document, 99.7 KB | Fig S1 |
Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.
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