Testing and Further Diagnosis
Your primary care physician (family doctor) can order a blood test to detect the virus. If your test is positive, further evaluation will happen through your doctor or a specialist, such as a gastroenterologist or a hepatologist (liver specialist).
Because hepatitis C management can be complex, you will have the support of several healthcare professionals on your team. In addition to a primary care doctor and a specialist, different types of nurses, a pharmacist, and (in some cases) a mental health professional and specialists in fields such as diet and exercise may be part of your treatment team.
Our Treatment Decision Tool can help you explore some of the issues involved in your decision to start hepatitis C treatment.
Your Treatment Team
If all of the people who help with your treatment could be in the same room at the same time, managing this team would be much easier for you. However, most often you will often have to act as an intermediary for this group—asking your specialist about something your general practitioner said or asking your nurse to explain a doctor's instructions in more detail. You may also need referrals to get access to certain team members. Sometimes you may feel that it's all too complicated, but remember that all of your treatment team members want what's best for your health.
As with any team, members need identifiable roles. You have some choices here and may be limited in other decisions. In general, you need:
- A person you can talk to about strategy and day-to-day issues. Who can you call if you have a question or concern that needs immediate attention? Who can help you address symptoms and side effects? For some people, this is their general practitioner; for others, this is their nurse or physician assistant. Specialists can fill this role, but their schedules and the number of patients they see often make this sort of one-on-one contact difficult.
- Someone who knows how your whole treatment plan fits together. For many people, this is their specialist (gastroenterologist or hepatologist)—others have their general practitioner filling this role. Make sure this person knows about all the interactions you have with other members of your team. Such updates are especially important if you are thinking about taking additional medicine or supplements (of any kind) or making other changes to your treatment plan. Ideally, the other members of your team will share information through official medical reports. However, this may not always happen, and new medical privacy laws may present some roadblocks.
There are many other people who can help with your treatment:
- Hepatologist: a doctor who specializes in disorders of the liver
- Gastroenterologist: a doctor who specializes in issues related to the gastrointestinal system, including the intestines, stomach, liver, and other organs
- Infectious disease specialist: a doctor who specializes in diseases that are transmitted by infectious agents (such as viruses, bacteria, or parasites)
- Primary care provider: a medical doctor (MD) or doctor of osteopathy (DO) with general training who sees a wide variety of patients; sometimes known as either an internist or a family practice physician
- Nurse (RN, LPN), nurse practitioner (NP), and/or physician assistant (PA): often plays a major role in hepatitis C care; can provide support and answer questions throughout the management of the illness
- Pharmacist: pharmacists have training in how drugs work, how the body responds, and interactions between drugs
- A mental health specialist (psychiatrist, psychologist, or social worker)
- A physical therapist
- A dietician or nutritionist
- A spiritual or religious counselor
- An advocacy group
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