Care & Counsel III: Helping Patients Stay the Course on Treatment for Hepatitis C Newsletter

A series of four 4-page Tx Reporter newsletters. This 4-part comprehensive CE/CME activity focuses on the crucial role that healthcare professionals play in screening; monitoring; promoting adherence; managing side effects; and providing education, counseling, and support for your patients with hepatitis C.

Part 1: New Data on Treatment for Hematologic Side Effects
Part 2: Frequently Asked Questions About Hepatitis C
Part 3: Neuropsychiatric Effects of Interferon alfa: Recognition and Management
Part 4: More Frequently Asked Questions About Hepatitis C

Co-Chair
John G. McHutchison, MD, FRACP
Director, Gastroenterology/Hepatology Research
Duke Clinical Research Institute
Associate Professor of Medicine
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, North Carolina

Tiffany A. Geahigan, PA-C, CCRC
Clinical Research Coordinator, Liver Center
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Boston, Massachusetts

Zobair M. Younossi, MD, MPH
Director, Inova Center for Liver Diseases
Inova Fairfax Hospital
Falls Church, Virginia

This activity is designed for nurses and other healthcare professionals who see patients with hepatitis C in a medical setting, and physicians who lead multidisciplinary treatment teams.

Activity Goal

The goals of Part 1 of this series of Care & Counsel III: Helping Patients Stay the Course on Treatment for Hepatitis C are to educate clinicians about the latest data on management of hematologic side effects of peg-interferon/ribavirin and to illustrate practical management strategies.

Learning Objectives

After completing this activity, the participant should be able to:

• Promote adherence to peginterferon/ribavirin, particularly during the critical early period of therapy.
• Develop effective side effect management of peginterferon/ribavirin therapy using strategies that minimize the need for dose reduction or treatment discontinuation.
• Describe the latest data on use of hematopoietic growth factors in hepatitis C patients with hematologic side effects of peginterferon/ribavirin.
• Describe the latest data on use of other adjuvant therapies, including psychotropic agents, in managing peginterferon/ribavirin side effects.

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CE Information

The National Center for Advanced Medical Education (a division of CMEinfo.com) is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

The National Center for Advanced Medical Education (a division of CMEinfo.com) designates this educational activity for .8 contact hour.

Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number 13776, for .8 contact hour.

CME Information

Statement of Accreditation

Projects In Knowledge is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Credit Designation

Projects In Knowledge designates this educational activity for a maximum of .5 Category 1 credit toward the AMA Physician’s Recognition Award. Each physician should claim only those credits that he/she actually spent in the activity.

This activity is planned and implemented as an independent CME activity in accordance with the ACCME Essential Areas and Policies.

Successful completion for .5 hour of CME credit requires a passing score of 70% or higher on the posttest. Full instructions for submission are included on the posttest.

Contract for Mutual Responsibility in CME/CE

Disclosure Information

The Disclosure Policies of Projects In Knowledge and The National Center for Advanced Medical Education (a division of CMEinfo.com) require that faculty participating in a CE/CME activity disclose to the audience: any significant relationship they may have with a pharmaceutical or medical equipment company, product, or service that may be mentioned as part of their presentation; any relationship with the commercial supporters of this activity; if discussion includes 1) therapies that are unapproved for use or are investigational; 2) ongoing research; or 3) preliminary data.

This activity will include a discussion of unlabeled/unapproved uses of darbepoetin, epoetin, and filgrastim.

For complete prescribing information on the products discussed during this CE/CME activity, please see your current Physicians’ Desk Reference (PDR).

The opinions expressed during this activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily reflect those of Projects In Knowledge, or The National Center for Advanced Medical Education (a division of CMEinfo.com).

This nursing CE activity is provided by The National Center for Advanced Medical Education (a division of CMEinfo.com), and this CME activity is provided by Projects In Knowledge, solely as an educational service. Please note that although faculty will discuss specific treatment modalities, neither Projects In Knowledge, the accredited and approved CME provider, nor The National Center for Advanced Medical Education (a division of CMEinfo.com), the accredited and approved nursing CE provider, nor their CE/CME regulatory bodies, including the ANCC, endorse any of the modalities mentioned in the course of discussion. Specific patient care decisions are the responsibility of the healthcare professional caring for the patient.

This independent CME activity is supported by educational grants from Amgen Inc and Schering Corporation.

Peer Review process provided by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Office of CME. To find out more information click here.

Release Date:
September 1, 2004.

Termination Date:
September 1, 2005.

Estimated time for completion of this newsletter:.5 hour.

Evaluation and Posttest follow newsletter.

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in Acrobat PDF format

This independent CE/CME activity is supported by educational grants from Amgen Inc and Schering Corporation.