Linking Newly Diagnosed Chronic Hepatitis C Cases to Treatment (LINCT)

We had the opportunity to observe quality improvement in action at the health care level through the project Linking Newly Diagnosed Chronic Hepatitis C Cases to Treatment (LINCT). LINCT is a project facilitated by Dr. Andrew Morrow at Prisma Health Family Medicine in an effort to increase rates of screening for Hepatitis C, a serious virus that can be asymptomatic for most of its initial lifespan. This project screened all patients aged 18-79 years with an appointment at the clinic. The only patients excluded were those that chose to opt out of the screening on a form at check in. They also had a list of options for reasons why they would not be interested in screening; these barriers to screening were recorded along with any test results for patients that did not opt out of HCV screening. Before the quality improvement project began, screening rate for HCV was 3.4% for the target patient population. At 1.5 months screening rate was measured again with an increase to 6.3% of the patient population, with most patients opting out due to cost, which has since been eliminated via grant funding to further improve screening rates. The project is ongoing, but initial data suggests an opt out method can improve screening for HCV in primary care. Beyond seeing the results of quality improvement, in observing this project, we were also able to see many quality improvement tools in action. The experience with QUEST has taught us how to use regular tools for quality improvement projects that we will be able to use in our future careers in healthcare.