{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T01:43:08Z","timestamp":1760146988249,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1760054400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background &amp; objectives<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Some hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients remain underdiagnosed at a large hospital. The electronic medical record (EMR) alert system can increase in-hospital screening. This study evaluates the effectiveness of screening among outpatients and assesses variations in physician engagement across different specialties.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>From December 2022 to April 2023, outpatients aged 45\u201379 years, with diabetes mellitus or chronic kidney disease, who did not have anti-HCV data in their EMR were identified. A pop-up alert prompted physicians to either order anti-HCV testing or refer patients for a health check-up. The frequency of alerts, physician response rates, blood test completion rates, and HCV seropositivity were analyzed by specialty.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Of 85,320 alerts generated, 61.4% elicited a physician response. Internal Medicine clinics had significantly higher response rates than non-Internal Medicine clinics (77.5% versus 44.6%, P\u2009&lt;\u20090.01). Among patients with physician responses, 30.9% completed the study, with markedly higher completion when blood tests were directly ordered compared to referrals (88.4% versus 7.2%, P\u2009&lt;\u20090.01). The monthly number of screenings increased tenfold after the system was implemented. Overall, 22,377 patients (26.2%) were screened, and 485 (2.17%) were seropositive. One-fourth of seropositive cases were identified in non-Internal Medicine clinics, where the positivity rate was higher (2.7% versus 2.04%, P\u2009=\u20090.01).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Short-term use of the EMR alert system increased HCV detection among outpatients. The default test orders in the EMR improved completion rates more than referrals to a health check-up. There were differences in physician engagement and seropositive case detection among specialties. Targeted interventions, particularly among specialties with lower engagement, are necessary to improve the success of HCV screening.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0333940","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T17:28:58Z","timestamp":1760117338000},"page":"e0333940","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Differences among specialists in using the Electronic Medical Record alert system for HCV screening in outpatients at a large general hospital"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0446-3606","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Cheng-Kuan","family":"Lin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yu-Sen","family":"Peng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chi-Yu","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0333940.ref001","unstructured":"World Health Organization. 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