The American Journal of Medicine (AJM) has announced the availability of an original, comprehensive, online Hepatitis C Resource Center dedicated to providing primary care providers and specialists with the latest information on the screening, diagnosis, treatment and management of Hepatitis C (HCV). AJM is published by Elsevier.
In a survey of primary care physicians (PCPs) who had screened and/or cared for HCV patients within the last six months, 60 percent confirmed they were not very confident or only somewhat confident when screening patients for chronic HCV infection. AJM and Elsevier Multimedia Publishing commissioned the survey, which was conducted by Metrics for Learning, LLC.
The survey found that PCPs have misconceptions about who to screen, the risk of progression of liver disease and available therapies. Dr. Edward Lebovics, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatobiliary Diseases at New York Medical College, and guest editor of the Resource Center, emphasized the shortage of educational resources to provide healthcare practitioners with the latest information on the screening, diagnosis, treatment and management of HCV.
AJM was encouraged to establish the Resource Center based on the current initiatives focusing on HCV screening and diagnosis, along with the advent of oral interferon (IFN)-free treatment regimens that will be published in AJM's November issue.
The AJM Resource Center site has two major channels. One channel has been tailored to address the needs of internal medicine physicians and other PCPs. The second channel addresses needs of specialists including hepatologists, gastroenterologists and infectious disease specialists.
In addition, the Resource Center features a video message from Dr. Bryce Smith, a research health scientist at the CDC in Atlanta, Ga. Dr. Smith currently leads the Prevention Research and Evaluation Team in the CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis and also serves as CDC liaison to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force for HCV-related recommendations.
