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 October 27, 2020, Colleen Flanigan, RN, MS and Kelly S. Ramsey, MD presented on:
“HCV Screening and Treatment in NYS OASAS Certified Treatment Programs”
Webinar Focus:
The results of a survey conducted by New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) at almost 800 New York State Substance Use Treatment Programs will be presented. The primary purpose of the survey was to better understand current infrastructure within OASAS certified treatment programs to provide HCV services, including screening, diagnosis and treatment.
Biographies:
About Colleen Flanigan, RN, MS
Colleen Flanigan currently serves as the Director of the Bureau of Hepatitis Health Care at the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute. Ms. Flanigan has been involved in hepatitis C-related work for almost two decades. She is responsible for the design, implementation and evaluation of hepatitis C programs and policies in New York State. Ms. Flanigan is also responsible for the development and implementation of the NYS Hepatitis C Elimination Plan.
About Kelly S. Ramsey, MD
Dr. Kelly S. Ramsey is an internal medicine physician who has treated substance use disorder since 2004. She worked as Medical Director of an academic center-based OTP in the South Bronx before working for a decade for a large FQHC in the Hudson Valley where she created and grew a MAT program for OUD and AUD to 10 sites and 1500 patients. Dr. Ramsey currently works as the Associate Chief of Addiction Medicine at NYS OASAS.
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.
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.
