Rapid POC Hepatitis C Test Provides Results Within One Hour

Hepatitis C virus is a silent but serious liver infection that often goes undetected until it causes cirrhosis, liver failure, or cancer. Most infected individuals have no symptoms, and many see clinicians only sporadically, which makes timely diagnosis and treatment difficult. Now, a rapid point-of-care test that detects active infection may help identify more patients and initiate treatment immediately, though its widespread use could be limited by high testing costs.

In a study led by researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine (Seattle, WA, USA), the team evaluated a newly approved finger-stick test that detects hepatitis C viral RNA and can be run directly in clinics, emergency rooms, or doctors’ offices with results available in under an hour. Unlike traditional laboratory testing, this approach allows clinicians to confirm infection and discuss treatment while patients are still present.

Image: Illustration of finger-stick blood draw for hepatitis C testing with inserted sketch of the virus (Photo courtesy of Alice C. Gray)

The researchers analyzed hepatitis C testing patterns across the UW Medicine health system between 2017 and 2024, including a large academic medical center, a public county hospital, a community hospital, and multiple outpatient clinics. Using these data, they modeled the financial impact of introducing Cepheid’s (Sunnyvale, CA, USA) Xpert HCV test under different implementation scenarios. The analysis accounted for reagent costs, workflow changes, and additional laboratory staffing requirements.

The team found that each Cepheid test costs approximately USD 91 and must be run individually rather than in batches, increasing labor demands. Even limited use of the test, such as restricting it to a single emergency department, would raise overall hepatitis C laboratory costs by about 22 percent, while broader use would add millions of dollars in annual expenses. The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

Targeted use of the rapid test in high-risk settings appeared more cost-efficient than system-wide adoption. For example, one-third of hepatitis C cases in King County are diagnosed in the emergency department at Harborview Medical Center, where positivity rates exceed 10 percent, making focused testing more impactful. The researchers suggest that similar innovative payment models used for curative antiviral drugs may be needed to support broader access to rapid diagnostics.

“Our clinicians say that if they were able to go to NIH with these lab results for these patients while they are still in the ER or clinic, they would be able to convince them to start treatment right on the spot,” said senior author Dr. Alexander Greninger.

Related Links:
University of Washington School of Medicine
Cepheid