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Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes)

Community Engagement > Project ECHO > What is Project ECHO

What is Project ECHO?

Project ECHO logoProject ECHO utilizes technology to share knowledge across miles and across disciplines. By leveraging a free web-based platform, ECHO offers access while creating learning collaboratives. During a tele-ECHO session, an interdisciplinary team of specialists meets with participants in sharing best practices and applying case-based learning to improve outcomes.

We work with specialists, primary health care, mental health care, public health, schools and community experts in building environments comfortable for professionals to share knowledge and experiences and learn new skills. Our goal is to improve outcomes for Kansans by increasing everyone's ability to treat and manage complex health care challenges in their own communities with the right knowledge, at the right place at the right time. 

Moving knowledge, not people.

We invite you to join us!

How Project ECHO began

Hear from Dr. Sanjeev Arora, MD founder of Project ECHO

Project ECHO's story Launched in 2003. It grew out of one doctor's vision.

Sanjeev Arora, M.D., a social innovator, and liver disease specialist at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center in Albuquerque, was frustrated that he could serve only a fraction of the hepatitis C patients in the state. He wanted to serve as many patients with hepatitis C as possible, so he created a free, educational model and mentored community providers across New Mexico in how to treat the condition. A New England Journal of Medicine study found that hepatitis C care provided by Project ECHO trained community providers were as good as care provided by specialists at a university.

The ECHO model is not traditional "telemedicine" where the specialist assumes care of the patient, but is instead "telementoring" a guided practice model where the participating clinician retains responsibility for managing the patient.

Collaborative Education

  • Acquire new knowledge and expands capacity
  • Democratize and de-monopolize medical knowledge linking interdisciplinary specialty teams with multiple primary care clinics
  • Access to Interprofessional specialists for mentoring across a virtual network

Moving Knowledge, Not Patients

  • Better access for patients in rural and underserved communities
  • Care at the right place, given in the right time
  • Reduces treatment disparities

Principles of the TeleECHO Model

Project ECHO, Changing the World Fast

When all the principles are applied, a learning community in which "All Teach and All Learn" comes together.

Benefits of becoming a part of the ECHO community

  • Access Communities
  • Reduce Disparities
  • Promote Consistency
  • Rapid Dissemination
  • Increase Professional Knowledge
  • Isolation Decrease

Four principles of the ECHO model

  • Use technology to leverage scarce resources
  • Share "best practices" to reduce disparities
  • Apply case-based learning to master complexity
  • Evaluate and monitor outcomes
Last modified: Dec 03, 2019
Questions

Carla Deckert, MA PMP®
Project Director, Project ECHO
913-588-2081
projectecho@kumc.edu

Jan Lyon
Senior Coordinator, Project ECHO
913-588-5230

Enduring Materials

Past Series

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