A new University of Pittsburgh study finds the medical system needs to do a better job screening pregnant people who have opioid use disorder for hepatitis C.
Researchers pulled data from the health records of some 24,000 pregnant people with an opioid dependency who are insured by Medicaid. They found that just 70% were screened for the virus; of those who tested positive, less than one in five received follow-up care within six months of giving birth.
"We need to have interventions or care coordination to make sure that people are getting the specialist appointment they need after delivery," said lead author Marian Jarlenski, who specializes in health policy and management at Pitt's School of Public Health.
Hepatitis C is fairly easy to treat with antiviral medication. Though, patients have to wait until after they've given birth. Left untreated, people can develop a host of health issues – including liver failure, kidney disease and heart problems.
Jarlenski focused on pregnant people with opioid use disorder for two reasons. One is that those who use intravenous drugs are at higher risk of contracting the disease.
The other is that during pregnancy, many people who haven't been to the doctor in a while start getting a lot of medical care. "It's a good opportunity to not only look at pregnancy-related health but also look at other conditions that can affect people beyond pregnancy."
These findings come at a particularly salient time for Pennsylvanians.
This month, Medicaid coverage for pregnant people was extended to a whole year postpartum instead of expiring 60 days after giving birth.
Pennsylvania is doing this with funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.
