Mobile Health Support Intervention for Hepatitis C Linkage to Care and Hepatitis C Treatment Adherence Support

We have designed an e-health application that documents and supports community based hepatitis C linkage to care and treatment for patients diagnosed with hepatitis C (HCV). There are an estimated 3.2 million Americans in the United States infected with HCV. Only about 6% of individuals have been cured of their hepatitis C infections. The major prognosticator of HCV cure is treatment adherence for the short period of 3-6 months. The high cost of current HCV therapies justifies increased adherence support to ensure successful completion of treatment. We propose an electronic mobile system that can both be used as a text message based system (between patients and providers) and can also be deployed on smartphones to allow clinical sites and health departments to support linkage to care including notification of availability of HCV RNA results, appointment reminders, medication adherence reminders and positive reinforcement for HCV treatment course completion. Our application will also provide education to patients and track HCV treatment and substance abuse co-morbidities (alcohol and illicit drug use), alert patients and providers about problems with HCV treatment and improve retention and cure rates of HCV.

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