An innovative project of Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, HepCure is improving provider knowledge & patient engagement for chronic disease management in persons infected with the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV). The toolkit is designed to address barriers for the effective care and treatment of HCV by providing web-based and smartphone enabled resources, navigation, consultation, and support for both patients and providers. The HepCure toolkit draws upon the experience of expert providers within the Mount Sinai Network, with support and development by Sinai AppLab, Mount Sinai Medical Center. HepCure was developed by the Mount Sinai Division of Liver Diseases, Division of General Internal Medicine, and the Informatics for Research, Outcomes, and Quality initiative in the Division of Gastroenterology.
HepCure is a secure, cloud-based provider portal meant to virtually navigate providers through hepatitis C virus (HCV) care. The HepCure dashboard integrates tools to more effectively manage HCV infected patients. A flexible, scalable platform, the HepCure Dashboard provides a seamless flow of information within a digital healthcare infrastructure. HepCure enables easy access to HCV resources and best-practices for optimal management of HCV patients with the opportunity to engage patients on treatment, while improving overall health outcomes. The platform serves as an organizational tool, with built-in workflow efficiencies that optimize treatment decisions, reduce redundancies, as well as promote provider training and development.
Through the use of the dashboard and patient app, providers can:
We at HepCure are always looking for ways to improve. That’s why we’re constantly working on new features and meeting new challenges! Here are just a few of the features we plan to explore:
The patient app is a free resource for patients with hepatitis C, which allows them to track medication adherence, symptoms, and gain access to resources. It is available to download for free on iOS (App Store) and Android (Google Play) operating systems. While the app can be used by patients independently from the dashboard, it can also be linked with the provider dashboard. Providers can push lab data to patients and track treatment adherence and symptom data input by patients in real time.
The HepCure Tele-Education Webinar Series features many diverse and salient topics in hepatitis C. Each week, the webinar series showcases different speakers who are prominent members of the hepatitis C community. Our webinars are attended by a wide audience, and include providers, patient navigators, and other health workers from around the globe. Our collaboration with the New York State Clinical Education Initiative (CEI) and Empire Liver Foundation (ELF) allows us to provide continuing education credits (CME/CNE) through attendance to our webinars on the first and last Tuesday of every month.
All webinars are held on Tuesdays from 4:30 - 5:30pm EST
On Tuesday, March 31st, Dr. Kimberly Sue of Harm Reduction Coalition presented on:
“Harm Reduction for Health Care Providers”
Learning Objectives:
Presenters Bio:
Dr. Kimberly Sue is the Medical Director of the Harm Reduction Coalition. She works collaboratively with national Capacity Building Services and Policy teams to serve as the medical expert in support of drug user health policies and programs. Dr. Sue is a graduate of the Harvard Medical School’s Social Science MD-PhD Track (PhD, 2014, MD 2015). Her PhD work was in sociocultural (medical) anthropology where she studied the intersection of US prison systems, addiction policy, mental health and drug treatment. Dr. Sue’s ethnographic research was based in Massachusetts at the state women’s prison, a Boston jail, and a community-based buprenorphine treatment program, where she followed the experiences and treatment of women addicted to heroin through the prison and jail systems and back home or onto the streets. She finished her medical training at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston in Internal Medicine-Primary Care.
On Tuesday, February 25th Dr. Barbara J Turner of Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern California presented on:
“Hepatitis C and Alcohol”
Learning Objectives:
Presenters Bio:
Dr Barbara J Turner is a practicing general internist-investigator in health disparities and health services research. Her research has primarily addressed preventive care, substance use, and chronic disease management. She completed her MD, residency, and a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), receiving a Masters in Science of Education. After training, she served on the faculty of Jefferson Medical College where she conducted research on HIV quality and outcomes of care and became a tenured professor of medicine. She returned to Penn in 2000 to lead the Primary Care Physician-Scientist Fellowship Program and serve part-time as associate editor of the Annals of Internal Medicine. While at Penn, her research addressed effects of substance use – primarily alcohol and opioid analgesics – on quality and outcomes of mainstream medical care. She then established the Center for Research to Advance Community Health (ReACH) at the University of Texas Health San Antonio in 2010 where she conducted multiple federal- and state-funded studies addressing the health of the South Texas community. Her research on hepatitis C virus (HCV) developed and implemented an evidence-based infrastructure in safety net primary care practices to screen baby boomers for HCV and treat uninsured patients with chronic HCV onsite. That research has combined her research interests in chronic disease prevention and substance use. In 2018, she joined the faculty at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine and the Gehr Center for Health Systems Science and Innovation, focusing on mentoring junior investigators. She has over 180 peer-reviewed publications and editorials resulting from research.
These learning modules are intended for clinicians of all backgrounds who may encounter or treat patients with hepatitis C and would like to establish core competencies in screening & diagnosis, evaluation and management of the disease. Content includes screening and linkage to care, initial evaluation, diagnosis and recognition of clinical manifestations. These modules were originally presented as a component of the HepCure Tele-Education Webinar Series.
These learning modules are intended for clinicians who have experience treating patients with hepatitis C and would like to further their knowledge. These modules were originally presented as a component of the HepCure Tele-Education Webinar Series.
Psychosocial Readiness Evaluation and Preparation for Hepatitis C Treatment
THe Psychosocial Readiness Evaluation and Preparation for Hepatitis C Treatment (PREP-C) is a free interactive online tool that enables you to provide a thorough assessment of a patient’s psychosocial readiness to begin Hepatitis C treatment, and make a treatment plan to improve treatment readiness.
This free online tool can be used by any type of professional involved in preparing a patient for Hepatitis C Treatment including medical providers, nurses, mental health, substance use, social work, pharmacy, case management, treatment adherence and health education specialists.
