Setting Up a Patient Care Call Center After Potential HCV Exposure

OBJECTIVESNotify patients of a potential exposure to hepatitis C virus, coordinate testing, and provide follow-up counseling. METHODSA team was convened to identify various needs in developing a patient care call center. The areas addressed included the followinglocation, hours, and duration; telephone accessibility; tracking calls and test results; billing; staffing; notification; and potential issues requiring additional evaluation. RESULTSDisclosure letters were sent to 1275 patients; 57 letters were not deliverable. There were 245 calls to the helpline from October 25 through November 15. Lessons learned centered on hours of availability, staffing, use of an automated phone system and email communication, tracking results, and billing issues. CONCLUSIONSA successful patient notification and follow-up effort requires a multidisciplinary team, internal and external communication, collection of data over an extended period, and coordination of patient information.