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Abstract Details
A Best Practice Alert for Identifying Hepatitis B-Infected Patients
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2020 May 18.doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-0041. Online ahead of print.
Malini DeSilva12, Amy Kodet2, Patricia Walker312
Author information
1HealthPartners Travel and Tropical Medicine Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
2HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
3Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Abstract
We developed and evaluated the Global Health Wizard Hepatitis B Best Practice Alert (BPA) to increase primary care provider adherence to evidence-based guidelines for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection screening in non-U.S.-born patients. We conducted a pilot study using nine clinics to test BPA effectiveness. Eligible patients were aged ≥ 12 years, from a country of origin with ≥ 2% HBV prevalence, had no electronic health record documentation of HBV screening, and were seen for primary care during July 2012-March 2013. The BPA triggered for > 4,500 patients and identified six previously unrecognized HBV-infected patients. The pilot project demonstrated BPA effectiveness and continued to be used at pilot clinics until 2018 and was expanded to additional clinics in 2019; 29 additional HBV-infected patients were identified. Although successful, BPA usage steadily decreased over time. Poor BPA usage limits the power to achieve the goal of improved population-based HBV screening.