In late 2016, Virginia was awarded technical assistance from the National Governors Association as a flexible opportunity to support states’ efforts to learn about and implement innovative telehealth programs designed to address access to primary care, with a particular focus on treatment for opioid use disorder. The National Governors Association has identified Project ECHO©, or Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes, as the model for telehealth initiatives.
The success of the ECHO model™ has provided The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) Injury and Violence Prevention Program with a framework to implement a collaborative practice and continuing education model to address the burden of injury and violence and increase the capacity for healthcare providers and prevention professionals to care for impacted families.
The model is comprehensive and holistic. Using a hub and spoke model, training will be at no cost to the provider, delivered right to their clinic, with a variety of monthly/bi-weekly schedules and initiatives to choose from.
Using simple videoconferencing technology, healthcare teams connect to a community of learners, offering:
- Free continuing education credit
- Opportunity to present actual patient cases, in a de-identified format and receive specialty input
- Access to a virtual learning community for resources in treatment guidelines, tools, and patient resources