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Pending legislation would require screening for high-risk patients at clinics, doctors’ offices, and hospitals
Baby boomers are five times more likely to be carrying the Hepatitis C virus, healthcare experts have found, but efforts to expand screening in New Jersey could help protect hundreds of thousands of residents — and make the state a leader in addressing this persistent infection.
Identifying Hep-C is the first step toward any treatment and containment. That’s why Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex) has worked for several years on a plan to expand screening for high-risk patients at clinics, doctors’ offices, and hospitals. The full Senate approved the measure (S-1279) Monday and a companion bill (A-3337) sponsored by Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer) awaits a hearing in the Assembly health committee.
“We need to make sure that there is a pathway for anyone who needs testing and information,” explained Vitale, whose own father lost his life to the disease after contracting the infection through a blood transfusion. The legislation would require providers, including hospital ER staff, to offer the test along with any other bloodwork required, or on its own. Patients can decline to be tested.
Linda Schwimmer, who leads the New Jersey Healthcare Quality Institute, said hospital testing is particularly important for patients who have a history of intravenous drug use or other risky behavior. This prompted providers in Alabama and Oakland, CA, to advocate for hospital testing, she said.
“Although the CDC encourages the testing to be done in a primary-care setting, which makes sense, many people who are more likely to test positive do not have a primary-care provider and testing them in the emergency department may be the most likely way to get to testing, and then education, and referral to a community provider for treatment,” Schwimmer said.