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 - 5 MB). Department of Health and Human Services. Available online. Accessed August 2022. M-2.

Date Last Reviewed: