Current Project ECHO Communities
This opportunity is sponsored by Dartmouth-Hitchcock, JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., and the NH Citizens Health Initiative at the UNH Institute for Health Policy and Practice, in collaboration with the ECHO Institute at University of New Mexico and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).
Target Participants
Nursing home teams, including (but not limited to) medical directors, nurses, administrators, direct care workers, and resident and family representatives
Objectives
- Keeping SARS-COV-2 from entering nursing homes where it has not entered
- Identifying residents and staff who have been infected with SARS-COV-2 early
- Preventing the spread of SARS-COV-2 between staff, residents, and visitors
- Providing safe and appropriate care to residents with mild and asymptomatic cases of SARSCOV-2
- Ensuring staff have the knowledge, skills, and confidence to implement best-practice safety measures to protect residents and themselves
- Reducing social isolation for residents, families, and staff during these difficult times
Benefits
- Improve quality of care and staff safety
- Increase knowledge of infection prevention and control in nursing homes
- Value-based incentives for meeting CMS metrics
Timeline
Fall 2020 - Fall 2021
Contact
Please contact unh.projectecho@unh.edu with any questions.
To learn more about participation, please fill out this interest form.
The NH Citizens Health Initiative’s Pediatric Improvement Partnership (NH PIP) launched the NH Mental Health Care Access in Pediatrics (NHMCAP) ECHO in March 2020. The ECHO increases provider knowledge and confidence in identifying, screening, treating, and effectively referring pediatric patients with mental health concerns. The project also aims to support increased engagement with family and community resources. NHMCAP has 3 ECHO cohorts over 4 years. In addition to monthly ECHO sessions, enrolled providers have access to faculty via bi-monthly teleconsult “office hours.” A statewide referral directory of mental health providers is in development.
Target Participants
Pediatric and Family Practice Teams
objectives
To increase knowledge and confidence in identifying, screening, and treating pediatric patients with mental health concerns and support increased engagement with family and community resources
Benefits
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Access to bi-weekly teleconsult service. This service allows any participating member of the program to schedule a one-on-one call with a faculty member to consult about a patient for up to an hour.
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New Hampshire Pediatric Mental Health Services referral list and guide
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Meets requirement for NHDPHS practice stipend
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Connection and dialogue with primary and pediatric clinicians across the state who are growing their mental health care capacity
Timeline
February 2021-November 2021 cohort 2, Feb 2022-Nov 2022 cohort 3
Contact
UNH's NH Citizens Health Initiative and the Department of Nursing have partnered to develop a Project ECHO learning community around Medications for Addiction Treatment (MAT). This learning community is part of the Partnership for Academic-Clinical Telepractice. This ECHO is the first in the world to incorporate family nurse practitioner students as well as integrate the ECHO into Nursing curriculum at the UNH Department of Nursing. Funding is provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant.
Target participants
Practice teams and student nurse practitioners prescribing medications for opiate use disorder (MOUD)
objectives
Increase knowledge and confidence and prescribing of MOUD
benefits
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Increase knowledge and confidence in MOUD
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Connection and dialogue with community organizations across the state
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Increase access to medications for MOUD
Timeline
February 2020-November 2020 cohort 2, Feb 2021-Nov 2021 cohort 3
Contact
This series of ten sessions aims to increase early intervention provider's knowledge of strategies, skills, and resources for supporting the complex needs of children with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome and their families. The training will be delivered via Zoom using a tele-practice model known as Extension for Community Health Outcomes or ECHO. The ECHO Model will use adult learning principles and video conferencing technology to connect community providers in NH and ME with specialists at local centers of excellence in real-time case-based learning and mentorship. During the ECHO providers will build a community of practice with other professionals across disciplines.
Target Participants
Early Childhood Professionals
Objectives
To significantly increase service provider knowledge of strategies, skills, and resources for supporting the complex needs of infants with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) and their families
Benefits
Increased ability to support infants with opioid exposure at birth
Timeline
Ten Sessions, biweekly, February 4th through June 3rd, 2021
Contact
Target Participants
Clinical preceptors, providers interested in becoming a clinical preceptor, office managers/HR staff, and NP students
objectives
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Promote case-based shared learning across clinical preceptor sites throughout New England and beyond
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Develop a learning community of preceptors and practice sites
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Share and develop competencies for rural and underserved preceptor sites
Benefits
- Expand the primary care workforce pipeline for rural and underserved populations
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Enhance preceptor knowledge and confidence by sharing best practices and case studies combined with shared discussions, recommendations, and resources
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Provide tools and shared experiences/innovations for practice efficiency while precepting students
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Boost professional connections and create a supportive community among preceptors in New England and beyond
Timeline
December 2020-May 2021
Contact
About Project ECHO Hub
UNH is a Project ECHO® Hub led by the NH Citizens Health Initiative, a program of the UNH Institute for Health Policy and Practice. UNH launched its first Project ECHO® learning community in 2019 focusing on medications for addiction treatment. The goal of the UNH Project ECHO® Hub is to share knowledge and increase expertise throughout New Hampshire communities.
Past Project ECHO Communities
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NH Citizens Health Initiative launched Telehealth for Special Populations During COVID-19 and Beyond on May 13th, 2020. This 4-session pilot ECHO series focuses on implementing telephonic/telehealth care with older adults, pediatric populations, and persons with a substance use disorder with complicating social determinants of health. This is the first ECHO in NH to bring together participants from both primary care practices, community-based social services organizations, mental health and behavioral health practices, family and peer recovery and support, and more. This ECHO is a pilot program for this unique format. Best practices and lessons learned for this approach will be shared. This telepractice learning experience is supported by the Advanced Nursing Education and Workforce Initiative (ANEW), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Summary of participants
113 Participants throughout New Hampshire and Northern New England including seven additional States. Participants included 32 Primary Care Practices, 17 Community-Based Social Services Organizations, 13 Mental Health and Behavioral Health Practices, 30 Higher Education Institutions, 6, State/Local Public Health Agency/Networks, 6 Public Health Organizations, 2 Family and Peer Recovery and Support Organizations, 1 Payer and 5 Categorized as ‘other’.
Goals achieved
Enhanced knowledge and confidence in the use of telephonic/telehealth care with older adults, Pediatric populations, persons with Substance Use Disorder (SUD) with complicating social determinants of health by:
- Promoting best practices for efficient and effective telephonic/telehealth care visits
- Linking clients/patients to local and web-supported services and resources to accommodate care barriers
- Developing a sustainable model to support current care needs
The Northern New England (NNE) ECHO Collaborative was formed to advance the use of Project ECHO® (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) across ME, NH and VT. In partnership with Qualidigm in New England, Vermont Program for Quality Health Care, and the NH Citizen’s Health Initiative received a HRSA Rural Health Network Development Grant to build the Collaborative.
Summary of participants
- 27 Practice teams from New Hampshire and Maine, representing an average of 58 Spoke participants per session
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7 experts from Maine and New Hampshire representing Family Medicine Practitioners and Prescribers, Addiction Medicine, Psychiatry, Behavioral Health, Pharmacy, and Peer Recovery & Support. With the addition of 2 addiction specialists and 3 adjunct members, representing Health and Human Services and legal sectors.
GOALS ACHIEVED
Increase in confidence of practice team members in assessing, treating, and assisting patients with substance use disorder. Highlights include:
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36% increase in confidence in managing high-risk, special population patients with SUD (i.e., pregnant women, persons experiencing homelessness, adolescents, etc.)
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26% increase in confidence in addressing risk of drug overdose in MAT patients
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21% increase in confidence in the practice team's ability to screen for substance use disorder (SUD), including Opioid Use Disorder (OUD)
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20% increase in prescriber's confidence to correctly prescribe and manage medication treatments for OUD
Summary of Participants
Nine-member, multidisciplinary faculty team, with representation from Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Our program faculty includes a Geriatrician, Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Pharmacist, Geriatric Occupational Therapist, Family Nurse Practitioner, Geriatric Nurse Practitioner, and a Social Worker who is also a representative from an Area Agencies on Aging.
Goals Achieved
Increased knowledge in:
- Assessment skills to accurately diagnose and treat geriatric patients living with complex conditions specific to older adult populations, more accurately
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New techniques for managing conditions that are commonly associated with dementia, increasing familiarity with methods of managing behavioral issues in patients with dementia and late-life mood disorders, learning both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions
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Identifying high-risk medications and “de-prescribing”
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Engaging caregivers and reducing risk of caregiver burnout
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Helping patients and families navigate difficult palliative and end of life decisions
summary of participants
Eight-program faculty consisted of a multidisciplinary team, including Perinatal Outreach Nurse Educator, Social Worker, Nurse-Midwifery, Perinatal Nurse Coordinator, Obstetrician, Psychiatrist, Neonatologist, an Addiction Medicine Clinician, and a Pharmacist.
GOals Achieved
Increased knowledge and confidence in understanding the needs of SUD patients, especially mothers and infants.
Summary of Participants
47 organizations throughout Northern New England, including community practice centers, municipalities, hospice, law enforcement, and nursing homes. 92 total individual participants, ten faculty members, including MD Geriatricians, psychologist, psychiatrist, social worker, occupational therapist, geriatric nurse practitioners, pharmacist, & facilitator.
Goals Achieved
Developed a collaborative approach that had primary impact of improving the health, care, supports, and quality of life for older adults diagnosed with dementia and their care partners living within their community.
The Project ECHO® model is an evidence-based method developed by researchers at the University of New Mexico, connecting interdisciplinary specialists with community-based practitioners using web conferencing technology. During teleECHO™ sessions, experts mentor and share their expertise across a virtual network through case-based learning, enabling practice teams to manage complex conditions in their own communities.
What is Project ECHO?
| WATCH how Project ECHO shares knowledge and expertise from a distance | The difference between Project ECHO and telehealth |
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Research & Findings"How New Hampshire will increase workforce capacity and enhance (clinical) skills using case-based distance learning: planning for Project ECHO® in New Hampshire"
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Contact UsFor more information about Project ECHO email unh.projectecho@unh.edu. |