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Item confirms Peer-reviewed Added

Telehealth-supported hepatitis C care was modelled to cost 69% less than specialist care

A cost model of the Cherokee Nation's hepatitis C programme, in which specialists advised primary care providers by video, put care at $1412 per patient against $4534 under specialist-based care.

Cherokee Nation Health Services modelled the cost of hepatitis C treatment given by primary care providers, with specialists advising on cases by video link. Treatment delivered this way was costed at $1412 per patient against $4534 under conventional specialist care. Projected savings reach $6.3 million over ten years, modelled from one system's own financial and treatment records for 2016 to 2020.

Why it is interesting: A costed account of moving hepatitis C treatment into primary care, in the population with the highest mortality from it.

Source
Journal of Public Health Management & Practice, 18 September 2026
Paper
Cost Savings Modeling of Integrated Telehealth Services for Hepatitis C Virus Infection-Cherokee Nation, 2016-2020
Authors
Mera J, Feder M, Sawyer J, Greene G, Wirth A, Leston J
DOI
10.1097/phh.0000000000002487
Type
Peer-reviewed article
Design
Cost-modelling analysis using health-system financial and electronic record data, mean 185 treated patients a year, 2016-2020, projected to 2040
Verdict
Confirms prior evidence
Driver
Medicine at a distance
Driver
Value in health
Free full text
Free to read at the publisher

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