Performance Measure: Hepatitis C Screening

National Quality Forum #: None

Description: Percentage of patients for whom Hepatitis C virus (HCV) screening was performed at least once since the diagnosis of HIV

Numerator: Number of patients with a diagnosis of HIV who have documented HCV status in chart¹

Denominator: Number of patients with a diagnosis of HIV who had a medical visit with a provider with prescribing privileges² at least once in the measurement year

Patient Exclusions: None

Data Elements:

1. Does the patient have a diagnosis of HIV? (Y/N)
   
   1. If yes, is there documentation of the patient's Hepatitis C status in the medical record? (Y/N)

National goals, target, or benchmarks for comparison

The HIV Quality Measures (HIVQM) Module is a tool within the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Services Report portal. It allows recipients to enter aggregate data specific to HRSA HAB Performance Measures. The HIVQM Module allows recipients to conduct point-in-time benchmarking across Ryan White HIV/AIDS Programs that use the module.

Department of Health and Human Services Clinical Practice Guidelines

"On entry into HIV care, all HIV-infected patients should undergo routine HCV screening. Initial testing for HCV should be performed using the most sensitive immunoassays licensed for detection of antibody to HCV (anti-HCV) in blood. For at risks HCV-seronegative persons, HCV antibody testing is recommended annually or as indicated by risk exposure."³

Use in other federal programs

This measure is linked to an exact or similar indicator(s) within Healthy People 2030, the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (2022-2025), and the Viral Hepatitis National Strategic Plan – A Roadmap to Elimination for the United States (2021-2025).

References/notes

¹ Unless there is concern about ongoing exposure (e.g., via active injection drug use), annual re-screening is not generally recommended.

² A "provider with prescribing privileges" is a health care professional certified in his/her jurisdiction to prescribe medications.

³ Panel on Opportunistic Infections in Adults and Adolescents with HIV. Guidelines for the prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections in adults and adolescents with HIV: Recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the HIV Medicine Association of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (PDF - 6 MB). Department of Health and Human Services. Available online. Accessed August 2022. M-2.