Journal Article
Impact of Project ECHO Models of Medical Tele-Education
Dec 18, 2020
Technology-enabled collaborative learning and capacity-building models connect generalist providers, often located in remote areas, with specialist teams that help train these providers so that they can deliver care for conditions that generalists might not otherwise feel adequately prepared to handle. This report focuses on the quality of evidence for the effectiveness of such models and describes ways to improve measurement of effectiveness.
Materials for a Report to Congress
Does not include Appendix F.
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Across the United States and internationally, multiple health care sites have embraced technology-enabled collaborative learning and capacity-building models. Such models use technology to connect generalist providers, often located in remote areas, with specialist teams that help train these providers to deliver care for patients with conditions that they might not feel adequately prepared to handle but are nevertheless within their scope of practice. The first implementation of this model, Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes), launched in 2003 in New Mexico. Project ECHO began with a focus on supporting the management of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) in rural regions of the state. This model has since been adapted to many different sites within the United States and other countries, and these models now address a wide range of medical conditions and other issues that providers face. This report documents what is known about ECHO and ECHO-like models (EELM). Generally speaking, the quality of evidence for the effectiveness of EELM could use improvement, but EELM mostly show positive effects in the small but growing body of research of EELM, which thus far measures more provider outcomes than patient outcomes.
Chapter One
Introduction
Chapter Two
EELM in Context: History, Promise, and Challenges
Chapter Three
Methods
Chapter Four
Findings: Inventory
Chapter Five
Findings: Evidence Review
Chapter Six
Findings of Technical Expert Panel: Evaluation Options
Chapter Seven
Example Evaluation Study Designs
Chapter Eight
Implications and Conclusions
Appendix A
Search Technique for Inventory
Appendix B
Search Technique for Evidence Review
Appendix C
Studies Used in Evidence Review
Appendix D
Studies Considered as Examples of EELM Evaluations
Appendix E
Case Studies: Technology-Based Health Care Collaborative Learning & Capacity- Building Models
Appendix F
Inventory
This research was funded by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) and conducted by Payment, Cost, and Coverage program within RAND Health Care.
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