Revolutionizing Care for People with Hepatitis C

A new initiative led by Yale’s Rick Altice, MD, is removing barriers to hepatitis C virus (HCV) care by providing same-day diagnosis and treatment in the community, not in traditional brick-and-mortar clinics.

Valuing people means acting without delay, says Altice, a professor of medicine (infectious diseases) at Yale School of Medicine and of epidemiology (microbial diseases) at the Yale School of Public Health. “When you tell someone to come back later, what they really hear is: you’re not worth it,” he says. “Treatment is urgent, and we want to meet patients where they are and holistically treat them at the point of diagnosis.”

Launched on October 1, 2025, with support from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the new program, called COMPASS (COMPrehensive Approach to Screening and Same‑Day Treatment), will be implemented in Connecticut’s highest-burden urban communities: New Haven, Hartford, Bridgeport, Waterbury, and New London.

Instead of multiple clinic appointments or referrals that can result in delayed lab results and discontinued treatment, COMPASS outreach workers and peer navigators work with patients where they live to access services at the point of diagnosis.

“In minutes, the outreach team can confirm infection using the first FDA-authorized point-of-care hepatitis C RNA test, complete a rapid assessment, and loop in a clinician by telemedicine to give the green light for immediate treatment,” Altice says. “Modern hepatitis C treatments cure nearly 100% of patients in 8–12 weeks.”

Embedded in COMPASS is a “syndemic” lens: HCV, opioid use disorder, HIV, mental illness, and homelessness are interwoven and must be treated together, Altice says.

“Too many people are cured from HCV only to die later from overdose,” he says. “COMPASS also offers same-day medications for opioid use disorder, which helps people stay engaged in care and reduces overdose risk and reinfection from hepatitis C.”

More than for curing hepatitis C while reducing overdose harms, Altice designed the program as a novel, model approach to impacting public health. “By moving treatment and prevention into the field, we’re building a model that shows you can safely decentralize care, reduce costs, and still achieve high cure rates,” he says.

Infectious Diseases, one of 10 sections in the Yale Department of Internal Medicine, engages in comprehensive and innovative patient care, research, and educational activities for a broad range of infectious diseases. To learn more, visit Infectious Diseases.