Partnership between Heritage Valley and UPMC offers COVID patients better access to care

A new partnership through Heritage Valley Health System and UPMC will make an outpatient COVID-19 treatment more widely available to area patients who have contracted the disease. 

Called monoclonal antibody treatment, it's given through a one-time intravenous infusion which significantly reduces the risk of death or the need for hospitalization in patients newly diagnosed with COVID-19. While both health systems carry the medication, only UPMC has existing infusion centers designated for the treatment. By pooling their supply of antibodies, both UPMC and Heritage Valley patients can use those centers to receive care.  

"When monoclonal antibodies became available in December, we built an infrastructure...to create different ways to deliver the actual therapy," said Dr. Donald M. Yealy, the chief medical officer at UPMC. "But in the region not everyone has those resources, and Heritage Valley reached back to us recently saying, 'Hey, this really works well for us and our healthcare strategy and the people that we serve.'" 

While leaders at Heritage Valley considered creating their own new infusion centers, concerns over resource allocation and infection control made the partnership a better option. 

"It just turned out to be a good arrangement because (UPMC) was already set up for infusion centers and can get patients in quickly for infusion," said Dr. Michael Cratty, the chief medical officer at Heritage Valley Health System. "And they have several centers that are regionally set up in our area."

Leaders at UPMC confirmed that the health system does have infusion centers for the monoclonal antibody treatment at UPMC Jameson in New Castle, UPMC Passavant - Cranberry in Cranberry Township and UPMC Passavant - McCandless in McCandless Township, and also offers treatment in emergency departments, nursing homes and behavioral health centers in the UPMC system.

But it's not available to everyone. 

Authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration, it can only be given to those at the highest risk for a poor outcome from COVID-19 who exhibit mild to moderate illness within 10 days of their diagnosis.

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"When someone is exposed to the virus, the way they either recover or fail to recover is largely based on how their body responds to it," Yealy said. "In other words, when the virus attacks people, it doesn't discriminate, but how you do is in large part due to your makeup." 

That's why people 65 or older, those who are obese and those with certain pre-existing conditions like diabetes or lung disease are eligible for the treatment, which can very likely save their lives. 

"It's a pretty stark benefit," said Yealy.  

Studies show that the treatment delivers a 70% reduction in hospitalization and death because it creates an immuno-response when the body does not. 

"What this does is it...makes very concentrated antibodies and they'll actually bind to the proteins on the virus so the virus cannot attach to the cell and therefore cannot infect the cell," Cratty said.  

Yealy described the process more simply. 

"What monoclonal antibodies do is give you part of an immune response because you didn't have it for whatever reason," he said. "This is why partnering with other...health systems is (so beneficial). We can offer these treatments and help you get better a lot quicker." 

However, both doctors said the treatment is not a substitution for the vaccine because, of course, survival rates are highest for people who don't get sick. 

"Vaccination is still an important part of (protection)," Yealy said. "Vaccines work very well."

Even so, not everyone will get vaccinated and if unvaccinated individuals do contract the virus, Heritage Valley and UPMC may be able to offer them monoclonal antibody treatment and keep them alive.  

"It's not either or," Yealy said. "If you think you have COVID, get tested quickly, and either call our number and we'll walk through whether or eligible or not, or contact your doctor."

The U.S. supply of monoclonal antibodies is taxpayer-funded and the medication is given without charge to the institutions that administer it. Currently, UPMC Health Plan waives copayments and deductibles for administering the treatment.

Patients and providers can find out more about monoclonal antibody treatment by visiting upmc.com/AntibodyTreatment or by calling 866-804-5251.

Kaisha Jantsch is a staff reporter for the Beaver County Times. She can be reached at kjantsch@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JantschKaisha.