Background: Little is known about the use of an electronic reminder system for HCV screening among patients with kidney disease. In this study, we tried to determine whether reminder systems could improve the HCV screening rate in patients with kidney disease.
Methods: Patients with kidney disease were enrolled from August 2019 to December 2020 to automatically screen and order HCV antibody and RNA testing in outpatient departments.
Results: A total of 19,316 outpatients with kidney disease were included, and the mean age was 66.5 years. The assessment rate of HCV antibody increased from 53.1% prior to the reminder system to 79.8% after the reminder system (p < 0.001), and the assessment rate of HCV RNA increased from 71% to 82.9%. The anti-HCV seropositivity rate decreased from 7.3% at baseline to 2.5% after the implementation of the reminder system (p < 0.001), and the percentage of patients with detectable HCV RNA among those with anti-HCV seropositivity decreased from 69.1% at baseline to 46.8% (p < 0.001).
Conclusions: The feasibility of an electronic reminder system for HCV screening among patients with kidney disease in a hospital-based setting was demonstrated.
Keywords: HCV; electronic reminder system; kidney disease; screening.