Hepatitis medical care coordinators: Comprehensive and seamless support for patients with hepatitis

Abstract

Chronic liver disease, especially viral hepatitis, is an urgent issue in Japan. Human resource management is important to promote appropriate care for patients with chronic liver disease in medical institutions and in the community. In 2011 the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Japan started training hepatitis medical care coordinators (HMCCs). Various medical professionals (such as public health nurses, general nurses, and clinical technicians), patients, and ordinary citizens are certified as HMCCs by the prefectural government after learning about liver diseases in a training program. The training program can be optimized in accordance with the regional circumstances and basic knowledge and skills of the applicants. HMCCs encourage residents and patients to undergo a hepatitis screening test, after which positive patients undergo detailed examination, treatment, and follow-up. HMCCs contribute to the expansion of knowledge about hepatitis in their workplace and community. By 2018, there were HMCCs in all 47 prefectures of Japan. There were 20,049 HMCCs in 2019. The most common professions of HMCCs were public health nurses, followed by general nurses, hospital pharmacists, laboratory technicians, and medical social workers. After certification, the activities of HMCCs vary; to ensure that HMCCs are adequately used in medical institutions, the supervisor and physicians must recognize the importance of HMCCs and generate opportunities for HMCC activity. The training and effective utilization of HMCCs is a promising way to decrease the prevalence and mortality of chronic liver diseases in Japan.

Barriers to lifestyle modification in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a scoping review

“…Nurses have played an essential role in the management of hepatitis and other liver diseases 34 , 35 ) , and their effective involvement in the management of NAFLD has been reported 36 ) . According to a study conducted in Japan, hepatitis medical care coordinators, who have been part of various healthcare organizations and are educated to provide seamless support to patients with hepatitis 37 ) , can play a similar role for patients with NAFLD.…”

Clinical implications of gender and race in patients admitted with autoimmune hepatitis: updated analysis of US hospitals

“…For instance, minority patients without access to primary care are more likely to have adverse AIH outcomes 44. To overcome this, accessibility to medical care needs to be improved among minority populations via increasing AIH awareness and disease recognition, as well as implementing adjunctive measures (ie, health coordinators, case managers) to promote health literacy for vulnerable patients in navigating medical systems 51. The burden of disease imposed on both patients and hospital systems can be curtailed by preventing the development of fulminant AIH disease through preventive or screening procedures.…”

Development of performance indicators for hepatitis countermeasures as a tool for the assessment and promotion of liver cancer prevention in Japan

“…P1 is whether or not the prefecture had created a plan and specific numerical targets for hepatitis measures, and P2 is whether or not the prefecture’s council responsible for hepatitis countermeasures held meetings. P3 through P9 are related to hepatitis medical care coordinators (HMCCs) [ 13 ]. HMCCs are professionals who are expected to ensure the efficient implementation of hepatitis countermeasures.…”