HEPATITIS
Since March 5, 2020, WVHAMP has had 13 full day trainings, 10 half day and 17 webinars resulting in….
These numbers demonstrate that with guidance and support, PCPs who have never previously treated HCV can achieve the same rate of cure as a specialist (95-99%).
1000 Consultations Received!
The West Virginia Rural Health Association is pleased to announce that the West Virginia Hepatitis Academic Mentoring Partnership has reached the milestone of providing treatment guidance for 1,000 West Virginians with chronic Hepatitis C!
WVHAMP Scholars have achieved a rate similar to that expected of liver and infectious diseases specialists, 95-99%. The WVRHA is proud of its role in supporting this important program to improve the health of West Virginians.
WVHAMP Provider Spotlight
Jennifer Mays
I am a Family Nurse Practitioner working with Mountain Laurel Integrated Healthcare. We are a FQHC look-alike located in Logan and Mingo counties. We value providing integrated health care needs to the communities we serve in order to improve health outcomes through a patient-centered experience. We offer primary care, behavioral health, substance use treatment, on-site crisis stabilization unit, a 28-day residential program for substance use treatment, hepatitis C treatment, and many other services.
With the rising prevalence of hepatitis C, it is imperative to ensure our patients have access to treatment. Within the past year I have submitted 20 consults and so far have 4 patients who have been cured.
I am honored to be able to provide this service to our patients, and there is nothing more rewarding than being able to tell a patient they are cured.
Perhaps the most symbolic is the treatment of hepatitis C. For many patients, especially those who have achieved sustained sobriety, the hepatitis C diagnosis remains a sort of scarlet letter – a badge not reflective of their true self. Helping patients to remove this stigma from their problem list has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my time in practice so far, and I am proud to have over 20 patients in some stage of the treatment process.
2022-2024 Provider Spotlights
WV HAMP Course Goals
- Recruit primary and addiction care providers practicing in Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Addiction Care Clinics, and rural community clinics in high-risk communities throughout West Virginia.
- Establish a primary and addiction care workforce trained by hepatitis C experts to screen, diagnose, treat, and follow up with the goal of curing persons with chronic hepatitis C infection throughout West Virginia, including high-risk, rural, and low-resource settings.
- Remove barriers to care for individuals diagnosed with hepatitis C.
- Increase the number of West Virginians living with hepatitis C who are successfully linked to care and cured.
WV HAMP Course Objectives
- Understand strategies to identify persons with chronic hepatitis C infection.
- Understand hepatitis C epidemiology, screening, diagnosis, management, treatment, cure and prevention.
- Understand the burden of hepatitis C infection in high risk groups in West Virginia and throughout the Appalachian Region.
- Understand staging of liver disease and hepatitis C counseling and transmission risks.
- Understand recent and evolving changes to West Virginia’s Medicaid Program and how these changes impact viral hepatitis treatment in West Virginia.
- Understand how the increase in hepatitis C infection is related to the growing opioid epidemic in West Virginia and the U.S.
- Have knowledge of injection drug use and describe the ways to enhance access to hepatitis C screening and treatment services for substance users.
- Understand the infrastructure necessary to support hepatitis care, treatment and cure in primary and addiction care settings.
- Identify screening for hepatitis C during pregnancy and the potential for perinatal transmission.
- Understand procedures for screening, testing, treatment and cure of babies born to mothers with hepatitis C infection.
How It Works
WVHAMP is a free telementoring partnership designed for primary and addiction care providers to link with disease experts for hepatitis C training. WVHAMP is designed to build a mentorship platform that is accessible to primary and addiction care providers caring for high-risk individuals throughout West Virginia, so that individuals with chronic hepatitis C can be cared for and cured in their own community.
What is Expected
- Participants will make a commitment to participate in WVHAMP trainings for at least 12 months. This training prepares providers to evaluate patients and submit consultations.
- Interested providers apply to attend the WVHAMP day-long online Cycle 1 training.
- After Cycle 1 training, providers are invited to participate in the evening educational webinars every month. Providers will present challenges and patient cases to their peers and WVHAMP Mentorship Team for feedback and guidance.
- Complete the half-day WVHAMP Cycle 2 training. That covers additional relevant topics.
- Submit a WVHAMP Consultation Form for each patient that has been fully evaluated through the secure/online WVHAMP data system.
- Mentors review the Consultation Form, advise on the proposed treatment regimen and approve the treatment plan.
- Mentors provide backup for complex cases as needed.
- Participants will be provided a one-year membership to the West Virginia Rural Health Association.
- Participants will have access to WVHAMP training materials/tool kit on the West Virginia Rural Health Association website via a designated link.
- WVHAMP planners have applied for Continuing Education Credits for participation.
WV HAMP training event dates
Each Cohort will have a full-day (WVHAMP 1) session followed by a half-day (WVHAMP 2) session approximately 3-6 months later. Monthly evening webinars will occur every 2 months on the 2nd or 3rd Tuesday.
Half day training will be registered for virtually and can be accessed on the WVHAMP Private Page for scholars. It is required for completion after each full day training.
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