Dr. Sanjeev Arora Delivers Grand Rounds Lecture on Project ECHO

On October 28, The Nicholson Foundation brought Dr. Sanjeev Arora to Rutgers RWJ Medical School to deliver a grand rounds lecture on Project ECHO. Titled “The Power to Cure Multiplied,” the presentation showcased the potential of ECHO at a time when RWJ Partners is considering replicating an ECHO Hub of its own.

ECHO is a guided practice model that helps primary care providers learn how to better treat patients with certain chronic complex conditions. It is a cost effective way to expand access to specialty care that is often not available when patients can most benefit. It uses telecommunications technology and case-based learning to foster mentoring partnerships between specialists and primary care providers.

Dr. Arora – a noted liver disease specialist practicing in Albuquerque – founded Project ECHO in 2003. Working in the Academic Medical Center at the University of New Mexico, Dr. Arora had an eight-month long waiting list to treat patients with Hepatitis C, resulting in unnecessary high morbidity and mortality. He developed ECHO to strengthen primary care providers’ competence and confidence to effectively treat their patients with Hepatitis C.

The model proved enormously successful. Today, Project ECHO operates 64 hubs for nearly 35 diseases and conditions in 22 states and 11 countries outside the U.S.

The grand rounds lecture at Rutgers RWJ Medical School introduced internists, general practitioners, family physicians, residents, medical students and nurses to the ECHO model.  In his lecture, Dr. Arora explained how ECHO can be used to enhance timely access to specialty treatment and improve the management of chronic and complex diseases – especially for Medicaid patients.

Learn More

http://echo.unm.edu