This is a complete article from the Federal Telemedicine NEWS.
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Using telemedicine initiatives can help treat hepatitis patients. The spread of the hepatitis C virus has now reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. and now affects close to four million Americans and an estimated 600,000 Californians. Therefore it is very important to educate physicians on using telemedicine in rural communities to help hepatitis C patients.

The University of California Davis Center in the UC Davis Clinical and Translational Science Center, awarded grants from a $200,000 pilot fund to do research and translate the findings into new prevention programs or treatments that will be widely available in all communities and for all patients.

One of the UC Davis investigators selected for a pilot funding award was Lorenzo Rossaro, Professor and Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. He is using the funding he received to test the safety and effectiveness of telemedicine consultations in treating patients with hepatitis C viral infections.

NIH has named UC Davis as part of its national consortium of academic health centers and this designation will provide $24.8 million in funding over the next five years with a portion directed to support studies similar to the initial pilot projects.

Several years ago, Sanjeev Arora M.D., Executive Vice Chair of the UNM Department of Internal Medicine became increasingly frustrated with his inability to provide care to the thousands of New Mexicans who suffer from hepatitis C. At the time, he could only treat 70-90 hepatitis C patients per year in his clinic but there were more than 30,000 people with the disease in the state. As a result, there was a six month waiting list for patients to see him.

A pilot program called Project ECHO established at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center uses telemedicine technology to diagnose and treat chronic diseases and hepatitis C patients. This is accomplished by using the Center’s, telehealth pathways and internet-based access.

Currently, community healthcare providers in the state are presenting cases for discussion to the participants in the network to jointly reach treatment decisions. In addition, Dr. Arora has held hepatitis clinics using telemedicine in partnership with the New Mexico Department of Corrections, the New Mexico Department of Health, the Santa Fe Indian Hospital, and a handful of community based physicians.

According to a recent article in the Hawaii Star Bulletin, telemedicine technology can be used to help hepatitis patients in Hawaii. The state has many people that are carriers of hepatitis, rural areas that lack doctors, plus there are many people living in Hawaii that have emigrated from other countries carrying the disease with them. This is a situation where using telemedicine technology can really help in rural areas. The Hepatitis Support Network of Hawaii is looking for funding to establish telehealth networks to connect clinics.

CDC wants to see all states and territories conduct surveillance for viral hepatitis, including hepatitis A, B, C, and non-ABC hepatitis, and provide computerized databases with data on persons positive for the disease. This would make it easier to notify persons with hepatitis and people that have been infected so that they can be vaccinated or take appropriate prevention measures to prevent further transmission of the disease.

The Hepatitis Foundation International is part of a task force that is co-chaired by CDC and NIH. One topic is that is high on the agenda for the task force is hepatitis and how to coordinate and build on the existing surveillance activities. Steps will be discussed at future meetings on how to improve the detection and reporting for increased monitoring of hepatitis.