Eliminating hepatitis C

Strategy

HCA, DOH, and AbbVie are coordinating efforts to find individuals who are not yet treated; educate the health care workforce about screening and providing curative HCV treatment; and address barriers to care such as stigma, access to HCV providers, and the lack of urgency to treat among patients and providers.

In order to achieve HCV elimination in Washington State, DOH convened partners and stakeholders to develop the Hep C Free Washington plan. These include:

• People affected by HCV
• Local health jurisdictions
• Tribal Nations
• Medical providers
• Others with an interest in HCV elimination

What we need from providers

Action! This is a huge opportunity to rid our state of the most common blood borne disease in the United States – and now it is possible.

Effective immediately, we would like all providers licensed to treat HCV to screen and treat the target population. In order to support our provider community in this monumental effort, Apple Health (Medicaid) has made important policy changes:

• The antiviral Mavyret™ no longer requires prior authorization (PA). Other direct-acting antivirals will require review and will be approved only when Mavyret™ is not clinically appropriate.
• Anyone licensed to prescribe direct acting antiviral medications is allowed to screen and treat Apple Health members to support this effort.

Hepatitis C data dashboard

The Health Care Authority (HCA) has built a hepatitis C (HCV) elimination dashboard for your use.

This interactive dashboard shows the total number of Washingtonians diagnosed and treated for hepatitis C since 2015. The map is broken into counties so you can see the impact in your community. You can filter by age, race/ethnicity, and gender. The graph shows the total patients diagnosed and total patients treated per year with denotations of HCA policy changes.

How is the data determined?

• Patients are counted by their first date of service for diagnosis and first treatment date
• If numbers are less than or equal to 10, the county shows 0
• Treatment numbers are cumulative by year

View the hepatitis C data dashboard.

Webinars, virtual learnings, and updates

HCA has launched a webinar series dedicated to highlighting efforts to eliminate HCV in Washington State.

Elimination awareness bus

HCA and AbbVie are deploying an HCV Elimination awareness bus to areas of Washington State with high-risk HCV populations. This strategy is part of a national program to educate the population about the importance of screening and linkage to care. When a person visits the bus, they are able to get hep C antibody testing to determine if they may have the virus. View upcoming elimination awareness bus events.

Resources

• DOH Hep C Hub
• Having trouble finding a pharmacy to fill prescriptions?
• AASLD-IDSA Simplified HCV Guidelines (without Cirrhosis)
• AASLD-IDSA Simplified HCV Guidelines (with Compensated Cirrhosis)
• CDC viral hepatitis guidelines
• Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
• AbbVie Quick Reference Guide
• Pharmacy notice - Apple Health billing
• Provider cheat sheet
• Mavyret™ nurse ambassador program
• Hepatitis C Online (uw.edu)
• Project ECHO Flyer (AMA credit available for providers)