Primary care providers can effectively treat patients with hepatitis C

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Primary care providers such as non-specialist physicians and nurse practitioners can be quickly trained to provide direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy for hepatitis C with a high level of treatment success and provider satisfaction, according to a presentation at the 2016 AASLD Liver Meeting this month in Boston.

The advent of direct-acting antivirals used in interferon-free regimens has made treatment for chronic hepatitis C much more effective. In addition, DAA treatment is shorter — typically 8-12 weeks instead of 12-24 months — and simpler because it does not require interferon injections and management of its many side effects.

In addition to the cost of the new DAA drugs, another barrier to expanded access to treatment is that there are not enough liver disease specialists to treat everyone with hepatitis C. But specialized treatment may not be necessary for most patients with uncomplicated disease in the DAA era.