MOTIVATE-C: a randomised trial to evaluate the impact of financial incentives on the rate of initiation of antiviral therapy in people with hepatitis C

Initiation of Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy for hepatitis C infection, as evidenced by documented receipt of a valid dispensed DAA medication.

Financial incentives (for patients and primary care providers) may be a straightforward strategy for improving the uptake of hepatitis C treatment in primary care. In the MOTIVATE-C project, individuals with hepatitis C will be randomly assigned to usual care (no incentive) or to receive incentives of various dollar values (AUD 0 to AUD 1000), provided in conjunction with/without a co-incentive payment to the participant’s nominated primary care provider, for commencing hepatitis C treatment within the context of a supported treatment framework. By assigning patients to different values of incentive and evaluating their effect on treatment initiation, we aim to directly inform the future implementation of incentives by identifying the most cost-efficient strategy.