Posted on May - 31 - 2011
Videoconferencing Enables PCPs to Deliver Specialist-Quality Hep C Treatment
Videoconferencing with specialists allows primary care providers to provide hepatitis C treatment as effective as that found in academic centers, according to a study.
Researchers followed outcomes in some 400 patients with untreated chronic hepatitis C. Roughly two thirds were living in rural areas of New Mexico or in its prisons; they received care facilitated by weekly videoconferences and teleconferences between PCPs and specialists called the “ECHO” program. The remainder of the patients received care directly at a University of New Mexico hepatitis C clinic.
The outcome of interest, a sustained virologic response, occurred with almost identical frequency in both treatment settings (ECHO, 58.2%; academic center, 57.5%). Serious adverse events from treatment were less likely in the ECHO group (6.9% vs. 13.7%).
An editorialist comments that the researchers “have taken a promising step” toward addressing the needs of rural and underserved communities for specialty services.
Physician’s First Watch
Similar Posts:
- Do Studies Accurately Predict Treatment Effectiveness in the Real World?
- The benefits of pamper days
- Pulmonary Embolism: Outpatient Treatment as Effective as Inpatient in Low-Risk Individuals
- Tropical Storm Hermine slams into far northeastern Mexico
- The Impact of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy on Activities of Daily Living in HIV-Infected Adults in South Africa
