AAP Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes)

Why is this Program Important?

Project ECHO is a tele-mentoring program designed to create communities of learners by bringing together health care providers (medical officers, general physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, community health workers, etc.) and experts in topical areas using didactic and case‐based presentations, fostering an "all teach, all learn" approach.  Using basic, widely available videoconferencing technology, clinical management tools, and case‐based learning, health care providers develop knowledge and self‐efficacy on diseases, conditions, and/or processes.

Project ECHO has been recognized globally as a successful tool to improve patient care outcomes. Unlike telemedicine, this tele-mentoring model does not foster a health care provider and patient relationship. Published data demonstrates that patients who received care from providers mentored using the ECHO methodology had outcomes as good or better than those treated at specialized referral hospitals.

There are currently over 900 ECHO hubs worldwide in more than 40 countries on six continents for nearly 70 diseases and conditions.  

The AAP serves as a Superhub, which means that the AAP can train other organizations in the ECHO methodology as well as serve as a hub and manage pediatric ECHO programs from the AAP. To date, the AAP has:

• Trained more than 90 organizations and supported the launch of their programs
• Supported dozens of pediatric ECHO programs
• Launched more than 80 AAP ECHO programs in 20+ topics, including:
  • Behavioral and Mental Health
  • COVID-19
  • Disaster Preparedness
  • Environmental Health
  • Epilepsy
  • Infection Prevention and Control
  • Neurodevelopmental Screening
  • Substance Use, including e-cigarettes/vaping and opioids
  • Telehealth
  • Trauma and Resilience

Vaccination, including influenza vaccine and HPV vaccine.

Who Can Benefit?

Any health care organization that cares for infants, children, and adolescents, including Ministries of Health, Pediatric Associations, primary care clinics and their teams.

To date, our team has partnered in:

• Ecuador/Latin America: Provided training and technical assistance, including faculty and curriculum development, to USAID Applying Science to Strengthen and Improve Systems (ASSIST) Project regional hub to implement a Zika ECHO reaching providers in nine countries
• Jamaica: Trained the Jamaica Ministry of Health as an ECHO hub and provided support to launch the Jamaica Neurodevelopmental Surveillance in the Age of Zika ECHO
• Zambia:  Trained the Midwives Association of Zambia and provided support to launch the Intrapartum Care ECHO
• Ethiopia: Trained the Ethiopian Pediatric Society as an ECHO hub and provided support to launch the Ethiopia Quality Improvement ECHO which works with eight Ethiopian hospitals to improve care for mothers and newborns.  Similar projects are planned in Rwanda and Tanzania.
• Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda. Trained the pediatric societies in each respective country as ECHO hubs to launch pediatric-focused COVID-19 ECHO programs.
  
  

Program Details

Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) is a telementoring program that creates communities of learners by bringing together healthcare providers and experts in topical areas using didactic and case-based presentations. By attending virtual learning sessions over time, providers build their own capacity to manage the care of patients within their own local communities.

Project ECHO is a telementoring platform that fosters an "All Teach, All Learn" approach. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) utilizes the ECHO model to achieve the optimal physical, mental, and social health and well-being of all children by sharing best practices and building capacity among pediatric providers. Project ECHO transforms the way education and knowledge is delivered to reach more patients. As an ECHO superhub, the AAP:

• Develops and implements AAP ECHO programs
• Conducts ECHO immersion tranings for individuals and organizations interested in implementing their own pediatric-focused ECHOs
• Fosters interprofessional collaboration and best practices in pediatric care

What is the ECHO Model?

1. Use technology to leverage scarce resources
2. Share "best practices" to reduce disparities
3. Apply case-based learning to master complexity
4. Evaluate and monitor outcomes

AAP ECHO Impact

• Leverage AAP policies, guidelines, and child health experts to develop pediatric-specific curricula and programs
• Develop and lead over 80 AAP ECHO programs in 20+ child health topics
• Train and support over 90 organizations, academic medical systems and country health systems to serve as ECHO hubs
• Work with global partners in countries including Ecuador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Jamaica, Uganda, and Zambia to implement pediatric ECHO programs
• Use ECHO with audiences including pediatric and family practice providers, social workers, school personnel and community healthcare workers

For more information, contact us or visit aap.org/projectecho.

How is the Program Implemented?

The delivery can be conducted in any format.

Delivering Value and Impact

The body of peer-reviewed literature on Project ECHO demonstrates a strong impact on providers, patients, and larger populations and health systems. ECHO Institute maintains a collection of peer-reviewed publications related to Project ECHO.

AAP ECHO programs have consistently shown gains in ECHO participant knowledge and confidence in the respective ECHO program topics.  Additionally, many AAP ECHO programs have incorporated quality improvement and are able to demonstrate practice changes over time on identified clinical quality measures.

Project ECHO offers a low-cost, scalable solution that increases the capacity of health workers in underserved communities to provide best-practice care to their patients.

Program Partnerships

The AAP works closely with the ECHO Institute, the legal entity of Project ECHO based at University of New Mexico. As the only pediatric ECHO Superhub, the AAP is authorized by ECHO Institute to provide training and technical assistance to new hubs and support them as they grow their pediatric ECHO programs.