Weitzman ECHO
About Weitzman ECHO
Community Health Center, Inc. was the first Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) to operate its own Project ECHO® clinics. Weitzman ECHO clinics are specifically designed to meet the needs of safety net primary care providers and their communities.
CHC conducts Weitzman ECHO sessions for multiple specialties and provides nationwide access for individual health centers as well as larger entities.
Weitzman ECHO uses a cloud-based videoconferencing system that is user-friendly, secure, and HIPAA-compliant. Participants can easily connect via desktop or laptop computer, Android, iOS smartphone, tablet computer, or videoconferencing systems. No additional infrastructure is required.
CHC has the capacity to collaborate with larger organizations, state and regional entities to develop and host customized Weitzman ECHO clinics with flexible curriculums and choice of specialty.
Project ECHO ® was developed by Sanjeev Arora, MD, at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center and is a collaborative model of medical education and care management that helps clinicians provide care to patients where they live.
Project ECHO® helps practices transform care delivery, implement best practices, and improve quality of care.
Weitzman ECHO:
- Strengthens primary care infrastructure
- Improves communication and coordination with specialists
- Provides access to expert guidance
- Improves scope of practice for primary care
- Promotes implementation of evidence-based practices
Funders
The research and development, implementation, and outcome evaluation of Weitzman ECHO has been supported by the following entities:
- National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC)
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- National Healthcare for the Homeless Council (NHCHC)
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
- Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
- The Delaware Department of Health and Social Services
- The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing
- Maine Quality Counts
- The Mayday Fund
- The Wallace Foundation
- The Pfizer Foundation
- Vertex
- The Nicholson Foundation
Clinics
Active ECHO Clinics
Advanced Primary Care
Weitzman ECHO Advanced Primary Care connects primary care medical and behavioral health providers nationally with a multidisciplinary team of experts, using twice-monthly videoconferencing sessions to explore key topics of need to improve quality of care and clinical outcomes for underserved patients.
Childhood Trauma
Weitzman ECHO Childhood Trauma trains participating providers on what we know about trauma and its impact on youth, families, schools, and providers to assist with putting plans into motion using today’s resources.
Complex Care Management
Project ECHO Complex Care Management (Project ECHO CCM) aims to translate the Project ECHO model, originally intended for physicians, into a tool that supports nurses as they care for their most complex patients.
Complex Integrated Pediatrics
Weitzman ECHO Complex Integrated Pediatrics connects primary care medical and behavioral health providers nationally with a multidisciplinary team of specialists in pediatric care.
Substance Use Disorders
This Weitzman ECHO Series for Ohio connects primary care providers, behavioral health providers, and other care team members to a community of peers and subject-matter experts from across Ohio to address patients’ complex health needs related to substance use disorders.
Dermatology
Weitzman ECHO Dermatology will train providers from Texas on how to use dermascopic tools, promote management strategies for common dermatological conditions, and improve identification of skin cancers and infections.
Diabetes Across the Lifespan
This Weitzman ECHO Series for Ohio partners with Buckeye Health Plan and Ohio University to help Ohio clinicians solve for the complex health needs associated with diabetes using a holistic, multidisciplinary team approach.
Weitzman ECHO Key Populations
Weitzman ECHO Key Populations features a multidisciplinary team of experts who provide advice, guidance, and consultation to help address your questions on HIV prevention, screening, and management, viral hepatitis screening and treatment, substance use disorder management, LGB and Transgender health including gender-affirming therapy, and STI screening and treatment among other topics.
Medication Assisted Treatment
Approximately 2 million Americans are affected by opioid dependence, including the use of heroin and, increasingly, the use of prescription pain medication. There are not enough addiction treatment facilities to keep up with this demand, so primary care is becoming a common setting for treatment.
Peer Recovery Specialists
Weitzman ECHO Peer Recovery Specialist is a twice monthly videoconference that connects Peer Recovery Specialists to a community of peers around the country and a panel of subject matter experts.
Women's Health
This Weitzman ECHO Series for Ohio is designed to connect providers to a community of peers and subject-matter experts from Ohio University and across the state to address patients’ complex health needs related to women’s health using a multidisciplinary team approach.
Peer Recovery Support in Ohio
This ECHO continuing education program connects Certified Peer Supporters in rural areas of Ohio to a community of other Peer Supporters facing similar issues working with peers and in the workplace.
Adult Psychiatry & Trauma-Informed Care
This Weitzman ECHO series for Ohio equips primary care providers and care team members with enhanced skills to provide mental health care through an equitable and trauma-informed lens.
Past ECHO Clinics
Alcohol & Smoking
Weitzman ECHO Alcohol & Smoking addressed two of America’s major silent killers. This 6-month program met twice monthly to connect primary care medical and behavioral health providers over Zoom videoconferencing to a community of peers and subject-matter experts to discuss a team-based, integrated approach to treating patients with substance use disorders.
ConferMED-ECHO
ConferMED-ECHO is a first-of-its-kind CME opportunity designed exclusively for ConferMED clients that combines access to eConsults with live Project ECHO® learning sessions to help PCPs hone their primary care skills with flexibility and ease. With access to both tools, participants can receive immediate feedback while building knowledge to address the most common challenges seen in primary care today.
Community Health Workers
Weitzman ECHO for Community Health Workers was a 12-month program with sessions twice a month that connected Community Health Workers and similar roles such as Patient Navigators, Promotoras, and Peer Supporters over Zoom videoconferencing (accessible by any computer with internet or phone) to a community of peers and subject-matter experts.
COVID-19
The Weitzman ECHO Series on COVID-19 delivered specific didactic, care-based learning, and COVID-19 experiences and expertise in primary care to frontline safety net health care providers across the country during the pandemic.
Nursing Home Covid-19 Safety Program
The Weitzman Institute has collaborated with the University of New Mexico’s ECHO Institute and AHRQ to help deliver the Project ECHO Nursing Home COVID-19 Safety Program to nursing homes across the country.
Pediatric & Adolescent Behavioral Health
Project ECHO® Pediatric & Adolescent Behavioral Health (PABH) is a twice monthly videoconference that connects medical and behavioral health providers.
Quality Improvement
Project ECHO Quality Improvement is a series of one-hour, live dynamic videoconferencing sessions focused on primary care quality improvement (QI).
LGBT Health
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) patients often experience negative health outcomes due to stigma, prohibitive laws and policies, demographic factors, and barriers to care.
Substance Use Disorder in Pregnancy
Women are most likely to develop a substance use disorder during their child bearing years, which is between the ages of 18 and 44 years old. The number of women who self-reported using substances such as heroin, tobacco and alcohol during their pregnancy has been increasing in recent years.
Chronic Pain
Weitzman ECHO Pain is a twice monthly videoconference that connects primary care providers with a multidisciplinary team of pain specialists to improve the management of patients with chronic pain.