To effectively serve economically disadvantaged individuals who are at-risk for hepatitis B and/or C, HBI-DC works with community leaders and bilingual physicians to explore and use culturally and linguistically appropriate outreach and education materials.  Community leaders advise and assist HBI-DC on the best approaches to outreach and educate the target audience through ethnic media, such as TV, radio, newspapers, and social media platforms (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, WeChat, WhatsApp, etc.).

Promoting awareness of viral hepatitis and liver diseases through various media outlets have been effective in getting people to attend in-person education seminars and screening events. HBI-DC also utilizes the assistance of bilingual volunteers to help with translation and interpretation services when needed.

In order to encourage the targeted at-risk population to get screened and tested for HBV and HCV, HBI-DC also offers glucose and cholesterol screenings to provide a more comprehensive health screening for patients.  This approach also takes away a layer of stigma that might be associated with getting tested for HBV and HCV.

By providing glucose and cholesterol screenings with hepatitis B and C screenings, patients become aware of their overall liver health to prevent liver cancer since liver cancer is usually caused by either hepatitis B, C, and/or fatty liver disease.  On average, each year, HBI-DC identifies 5% of the screened population test positive for HBV and 3% positive for HCV.  HBI-DC also encourages screening for HIV co-infections for high risk populations.  All screening results are stored in a HIPAA compliant database.

Working with the DC Department of Health and Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, HBI-DC provides free hepatitis B vaccinations for at-risk individuals at health screening events.

To effectively administer the 3-dosage vaccination, HBI-DC has dedicated bilingual staff to follow-up with patients to encourage them to come to designated health screening events to receive their vaccination shots within 6 months of the first dosage.  Since 2006, over 5,000 individuals have been provided with free hepatitis B vaccinations.

HBI-DC has dedicated bilingual Project Coordinators that provide linkage to care and patient navigator services to help patients seek care and treatment services. Project Coordinators are trained to be HIPAA compliant.

Project Coordinators work with patients, primary care providers, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical companies to help patients navigate through the health care system.  Project Coordinators also work with the National Institute of Health (NIH) to refer patients who qualify for service.