Hepatitis Treatment Partner

HEPATITIS C TREATMENT

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St. Matthews Specialty Pharmacy partners with providers to offer direct-acting antiviral medications for hepatitis C positive patients in a convenient, stigma-free environment.

Dedicated HCV Team
to Streamline the
Administrative and
Insurance Processes

Pharmacy Designed to
Support Whole-Person
Behavioral Health and
Co-Occurring Health
Conditions

Innovative Solutions
to Remove Barriers
to Care and
Increase Access

Ability to Manage Co-Morbidities and Consolidate Care

Viral Hepatitis: A Call To Action

19 million deaths from viral hepatitis are anticipated from 2015–2030.¹ Prevention and treatment make elimination feasible and could reduce anticipated deaths by 7.1 million.

Where To Start?

Intravenous drug use (IDU) is the most common means of hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission in the US.² Approximately 70% of patients on opioid agonist treatment (OAT) are HCV antibody positive.³

Screening

Nearly half of people with HCV don’t know they’re positive.⁴ Implementing screening protocols is vital for identification of positive cases. Updates to the guidelines recommend everyone age 18 years and older be screened for HCV at least once in their lifetime, and people with behaviors, exposures or conditions associated with increased risk of HCV should be screened periodically.^5,6

Treatment Access & Success Rates

Antiviral medicines can cure more than 95% of people with HCV in as few as 8–12 weeks.⁷ Within the population of people who inject drugs (PWIDs), fewer than 10% of those with HCV ever initiate antiviral therapy.³ At the patient level, hesitancy to seek care is often rooted in concerns around stigma, navigating the healthcare system, transportation and time getting to another appointment at a separate facility.³

Integrating HCV Treatment In Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) Clinics

Addiction treatment facilities are well-positioned to greatly impact access to screening and treatment of HCV positive patients. Consolidating care through a multidisciplinary approach can help patients access the treatment they need and increase treatment retention.⁸ American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) supports this approach, stating, “integration of service delivery, addressing the unique needs of addiction patients, including HCV treatment, is strongly encouraged.”⁹

¹World Health Organization (2016). Combating hepatitis B and C to reach elimination by 2030: advocacy brief. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/206453 ²egenhardt, L., Peacock, A., Colledge, S., Leung, J., Grebely, J., Vickerman, P., Stone, J., Cunningham, E. B., Trickey, A., Dumchev, K., Lynskey, M., Griffiths, P., Mattick, R. P., Hickman, M., & Larney, S. (2017). Global prevalence of injecting drug use and sociodemographic characteristics and prevalence of HIV, HBV, and HCV in people who inject drugs: a multistage systematic review. The Lancet. Global health, 5(12), e1192–e1207. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30375-3 ³Norton, B. L., Akiyama, M. J., Zamor, P. J., & Litwin, A. H. (2018). Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C in Patients Receiving Opioid Agonist Therapy: A Review of Best Practice. Infectious Disease Clinics of North America, 32(2), 347–370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idc.2018.02.001 ⁴Mayo Clinic (2022). Diseases & Conditions: Hepatitis C. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hepatitis-c/symptoms-causes/syc-20354278 ⁵Schillie S, Wester C, Osborne M, Wesolowski L, Ryerson AB. CDC Recommendations for Hepatitis C Screening Among Adults—United States, 2020. MMWR Recomm Rep 2020;69(No. RR-2):1–17. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.rr6902a1 ⁶American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (2021). HCV Guidance: Recommendations for Testing, Managing, and Treating Hepatitis C. https://www.hcvguidelines.org/evaluate/testing-and-linkage ⁷World Health Organization (2021). Hepatitis C: Key Facts. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hepatitis-c ⁸Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Addressing Viral Hepatitis in People With Substance Use Disorders. Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series 53. HHS Publication No. (SMA) 11-4656. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2011. https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/SAMHSA_Digital_Download/sma11-4656.pdf ⁹Martin, S.A., Bosse, J., Wilson, A. et al. Under one roof: identification, evaluation, and treatment of chronic hepatitis C in addiction care. Addict Sci Clin Pract 13, 10 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13722-018-0111-7