Expanding Hepatitis Testing and Linkage to Care in Emergency Departments

Only half of the individuals living with HCV have been identified through an antibody test, and fewer have received a confirmatory test diagnosing them. In order to make the World Health Organization’s 2030 goal of hepatitis elimination a reality, it is critical to significantly scale up screening in settings that reach people most impacted. Emergency department testing has proven incredibly important and where programs have implemented universal opt-out screening, positivity rates have ranged from 6-20% (well above the one percent prevalence within the U.S. adult population). NASTAD’s Hepatitis Testing Partnership hosted a webinar on Expanding Hepatitis Testing and Linkage to Care in Emergency Departments. This webinar explored different models for hepatitis testing and linkage to care in emergency departments to highlight different approaches to successfully reach individuals living with HCV and link them to care.