HEPATITIS C TREATMENT

Your Pharmacy Partner for Whole-Person Health Care

Cordant Health Solutions® partners with providers to offer direct-acting antiviral medications for hepatitis C positive patients in a convenient, stigma-free environment.

In tandem with integrated retail pharmacy and laboratory services, we equip providers with targeted services that remove barriers and deliver actionable data to help improve patient outcomes.

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 with our
MAT Pharmacy Services

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/d7/priv/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

GET STARTED

If Treating Patients within Your Practice:

Seek out training for HCV screening and treatment.
Prepare documentation using the St. Matthews Specialty Pharmacy (SMSP) New
HCV Patient Intake Form and Checklist.
Complete the SMSP HCV Enrollment Form and fax to 844-524-4673. Please include
insurance card, chart notes and documentation.
Inform the patient that SMSP will be calling them from 844-690-4462 to provide
counseling, answer questions and coordinate the delivery.
Reach out directly to SMSP or to your Cordant Health Solutions representative with
any questions.
Medication will conveniently be delivered to your clinic or the patient’s home, based
on your selection

If Referring Out for Screening and Treatment:

For continuity of care, we encourage you to notify us about when/where patients
are being referred for hepatitis treatment. This will ensure any new diagnoses and
treatment plan(s) are added to our active patient records for accurate pharmacist
disease-drug and drug-drug intervention review and optimal patient care.
If you are seeking a specialist in your local area, please contact SMSP or your
Cordant representative for information.

Contact St. Matthews Specialty Pharmacy or your Cordant Health Solutions representative if you have any questions.