NY Hep C Telemedicine Workgroup – Meeting Notes
Thursday March 18, 2021 (10 – 11 AM) via Webinar
In attendance at this meeting: See below notes
Workgroup Chair: Andrew Talal, MD, University at Buffalo, ahtalal@buffalo.edu
NYS Office of Drug Users Health’s bupenorphine access initiative via Telemedicine
Lisa Skill, MS, MCHES, Health Program Coordinator at NYSDOH Office of Drug User Health – lisa.skill@health.ny.gov
- See presentation here
- Need for providers who are waivered for buprenorphine and trained to treat OUD, especially in rural areas
- Due to COVID-19, practitioners can prescribe buprenorphine to new and existing patients and check-in over telemedicine.
- “NYS Guidance for Accessing Buprenorphine through Telemedicine” guidance document currently under review
- NY Matters referral system connects community providers and emergency departments to treat patients via telemedicine
- Gov. Cuomo announced telehealth proposal to modernize regulations and expand mental health & substance use disorder services to rural and underserved areas
Hep C Treatment via Telemedicine at two syringe exchange programs in NYC
Brianna Norton, DO, New York Harm Reduction Educators – bnorton@montefiore.org
- “Meeting Patients Where They’re At: Hep C Care at a Syringe Exchange Program”
- Montefiore and New York Harm Reduction Educators partnered to deliver HCV care and treatment & deliver low threshold opioid use disorder treatment via buprenorphine
- Developed Innovative Models Program, incentivizing patients for blood draw
- Open for lab work but overlap of telemedicine for overlap of care
- 10 HCV+ patients evaluated, 6 started treatment
Benjamin Eckhardt, MD, The Alliance for Positive Change
- See presentation here
- Patronage to syringe exchange diminished in June 2020, due to COVID-19
- All 11 patients received complete treatment
- Alliance (SSP), NYDOHMH, & Bellevue partnered to pilot low threshold hep C telemedicine treatment model
- Flexible, patient-centered, low threshold HCV care
Upcoming Events
- Call for Abstracts for the Northeast Telehealth Resource Center’s 2021 Telehealth Launchpad: Refueling for Sustainability Event. More information can be found here
Telemedicine Resources
- Hep Free NYC Telehealth Resources
- Hep C_Telemedicine Implementation Guide for Substance Use Treatment Programs 2020
- NYS DOH Provider Directory
- NYS Telemedicine Training Portal
Attendance
- Alvin Chu, MA, MPH, START Treatment and Recovery Centers, achu@startny.org
- Andrew Talal, MD, SUNY Research Foundation, ahtalal@buffalo.edu
- Anthony McLeod, START Treatment and Recovery Centers, amcleod@startny.org
- Arpan Dharia, SUNY, adharia@buffalo.edu
- Arslan Mohamed, NYCDOHMH, amohamed1@health.nyc.gov
- Benjamin Eckhardt, MD, The Alliance for Positive Change, benjamin.eckhardt@nyulangone.org
- Brianna Norton, DO, New York Harm Reduction Educators, bnorton@montefiore.org
- Colleen Flanigan, RN, NYS DOH, colleen.flanigan@health.ny.gov
- Dan Shappee, AbbVie, Daniel.shappee@abbvie.com
- Darlene Meyer, SUNY, dkmeyer@buffalo.edu
- Diana Toussaint Porteous, Bedford-Stuyvesant Family Health Center, dtoussaint@bsfhc.org
- Jeff Weiss, REACH, jeffrey.weiss@mountsinai.org
- Joy Cambe, Empire Liver Foundation, joycambe@empireliverfoundation.org
- Kathleen Davis, University of Rochester Medical Center, Kathleen_davis@urmc.rochester.edu
- Kelly Ramsey, NYSOASAS, kelly.ramsey@oasas.ny.gov
- Lia Alleyne, NYCDOHMH, lalleyne@health.nyc.gov
- Lisa Skill, MS, MCHES, NYSDOH Office of Drug User Health, lisa.skill@health.ny.gov
- Marc Badura, SUNY, mbadura@buffalo.edu
- Meg Chappell, MPH, Empire Liver Foundation, megchapell@empireliverfoundation.org
- Megan Prokorym, NYSDOH Office of Health Insurance Programs, megan.prokorym@health.ny.gov
- Nadine Kela-Murphy, MPH, NYC DOHMH, nkelamurphy@health.nyc.gov
- Nirah Johnson, LCSW, NYC DOHMH, njohnso2@health.nyc.gov
- Sandeep Krishnan, MedTech, sandeep.krishnan@medtecintl.com
- Stephanie McHugh, NYCDOHMH, stephanie.mchugh@health.nyc.gov
Last Updated on February 19, 2025 by HepFree NYC
