A Digital Case-Finding Algorithm for Diagnosed but Untreated Hepatitis C: A Tool for Increasing Linkage to Treatment and Cure.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Although chronic HCV infection increases mortality, thousands of patients remain diagnosed-but-untreated (DBU). We aimed to (1) develop a DBU phenotyping algorithm, (2) use it to facilitate case finding and linkage to care, and (3) identify barriers to successful treatment.

Approach and results

We developed a phenotyping algorithm using Java and SQL and applied it to ~2.5 million EPIC electronic medical records (EMRs; data entered January 2003 to December 2017). Approximately 72,000 EMRs contained an HCV International Classification of Diseases code and/or diagnostic test. The algorithm classified 10,614 cases as DBU (HCV-RNA positive and alive). Its positive and negative predictive values were 88% and 97%, respectively, as determined by manual review of

SUBMITTER: Wyatt B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9299620 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature