Peter Gulick, a professor of medicine at the College of Osteopathic Medicine, is part of a team in Michigan that is determined to eradicate HCV by 2035. In 2021, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services kicked off “We Treat Hep C initiative.” Gulick and the other initiative members are working to educate people, especially primary care doctors, so they are armed with information and equipment to test and treat patients throughout Michigan.
Little testing was being done prior to that, Gulick said, and those who were identified with the disease were sent to specialists. Now, moving this care to primary care physicians presents more opportunity to reach patients. The best time to check for the disease is during a regular doctor’s appointment and helps to get those with HCV on medications as soon as possible, he added.
Gulick champions this message and training through the Center for Rural Health’s Project ECHO® (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes), a program that uses videoconferencing to connect groups of physicians and health care providers with specialists at teleECHO clinics to share knowledge and information and to ensure the best care for all people.