Project ECHO® programs
About the telehealth-based research and education program
A Project ECHO® team at UC Davis Health holds a monthly educational session via teleconference.
The Project ECHO® programs at UC Davis Health utilize the Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO®) model of care, which leverages regional expertise through the use of telehealth services. This allows for sharing of evidence-based practices to reduce health care disparities, utilizing case-based learning to help master complex patient care issues while also offering the ability to monitor community needs and outcomes. Through this collaboration model, specialists at UC Davis Health partner with rural hospitals and community organizations to deliver tele-mentoring and capacity-building programs that are culturally and linguistically tailored to the areas served.
How Project ECHO® works
The Project ECHO® model, developed at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, provides frontline clinicians with the knowledge and support needed to manage patients with complex conditions in the patients’ own communities. This dramatically increases access to specialty treatment, particularly in rural and underserved areas.
Project ECHO® clinic sessions take place monthly in real-time on a videoconferencing platform. During Project ECHO® clinics, providers present de-identified patient cases to a consortium of providers who can share best practices on caring and managing patients with complex conditions. These case-based discussions are supplemented with short didactic presentations to improve content knowledge and share evidence-based practices.
Benefits of Project ECHO® model
There are many benefits for health care providers, hospitals and health care organizations for participating in the Project ECHO® model of care, including:
- Enables providers to practice at the top of their licenses, confidently treating patients with common complex conditions
- Allows patients to stay in their local communities and receive treatment from their primary care providers
- Enhances clinician development by enabling primary care providers to acquire new skills and competencies
- Rural providers become part of a community of practice and learning, increasing professional satisfaction and allowing providers to be more productive
- Participation in the one-hour Project ECHO® clinic and completion of an evaluation form allows providers to earn one continuing medical education (CME) or continuing nursing education (CNE) credit
Current ECHO® programs
UC Davis Health utilizes the Project ECHO® telehealth model across a variety of research and educational programs. Current initiatives include, but are not limited to:
The Perinatal and Neonatal PIPE (Positively Impacting Dyads through Provider Education) Consortium ECHO® program fosters collaboration between UC Davis Health and community health care providers, including physicians, nurses, midwives, and social workers. The program aims to create an inclusive learning environment where clinicians can:
- Learn evidence-based best practices for caring for pregnant or parenting patients and their neonates
- Share experiences and address challenges
- Empower and educate patients through improved care practices
Curriculum for Perinatal and Neonatal PIPE Consortium ECHO® program
The topics covered in the Perinatal and Neonatal PIPE Consortium ECHO® program encompass a wide range of common neonatal and perinatal issues, including but not limited to maternal health complications during pregnancy, preterm birth management, early detection and management of neonatal health conditions, and strategies for optimizing developmental outcomes. The following is a sampling of the curriculum topics:
Neonatal curriculum topics
- Delivery room management and neonatal resuscitation program (NRP) review
- Neonatal encephalopathy and therapeutic hypothermia
- Preterm and late preterm considerations
- Meconium aspiration syndrome
- Neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS)
- Neonatal nutrition and growth
- High-risk pregnancy and complications
- Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR)
- Maternal mental health
- Maternal competency, capacity and consent
- Hypertensive illness of pregnancy
- Diabetes in pregnancy
Program team
The program is led by Neonatologist Kara Kuhn-Riordon, M.D., and Perinatal Psychiatrist Shannon Clark, M.D. The team also includes outreach nurses with experience in obstetrics, neonatal intensive care units (NICU), pediatric intensive care units (PICU), transports and emergency department care.
Get involved
Join the ECHO® collaborative at UC Davis Health by contacting hs-AffiliateNetwork@ucdavis.edu. For additional educational resources, contact UC Davis Children's Hospital Outreach Nurse Sharon Conner, R.N., at sconner@ucdavis.edu.
The Pediatric Acute Care Education Sessions (PACES) program is a complimentary peer-to-peer online continuing medical education course supporting health care professionals who care for pediatric patients at community hospitals in Northern California. The collaborative PACES ECHO® Pediatric Acute Respiratory Treatment and Management program focuses on knowledge of pediatric respiratory diagnoses, severity scoring and evidence-based guidelines.
Curriculum for PACES ECHO® Pediatric Acute Respiratory Treatment and Management program
The PACES ECHO® program aims to enhance pediatric care by exploring a wide range of treatment and management options for acute respiratory conditions. Curriculum topics include, but are not limited to:
- Asthma
- Bronchiolitis and high-flow nasal cannula
- Pneumonia (e.g., community-acquired, atypical, aspiration)
- Upper airway conditions (e.g., croup, foreign body, epiglottitis)
Upcoming sessions
- March 12, 2025 from Noon-1 p.m. PDT
- April 9, 2025 from Noon-1 p.m. PDT
Program team
The program team includes physicians and nurses with experience in pediatric hospital medicine, pediatric emergency medicine, obstetrics, neonatal intensive care units (NICU), pediatric intensive care units (PICU), and transports. Program leaders include:
- Heather McKnight, M.D., chief of pediatric hospital medicine
- Leah Tzimenatos, M.D., chief of pediatric emergency
- Diana Laraway, R.N.
Get involved
Join the ECHO® collaborative at UC Davis Health by contacting hs-AffiliateNetwork@ucdavis.edu. For additional educational resources, contact UC Davis Children's Hospital Outreach Nurse Sharon Conner, R.N., at sconner@ucdavis.edu.
The ECHO® Autism program is an interdisciplinary learning network that offers training on evidence-based practices and teaching through case-based discussion. The Project ECHO® model has been shown to increase knowledge and confidence in providing care to individuals with autism and other neurodevelopmental disabilities. Participants can present a case, expand their knowledge of care related to neurodevelopmental disabilities and network with other health care professionals.
Previous ECHO® programs
Previous Project ECHO® telehealth initiatives at UC Davis Health include, but are not limited to:
Project timeframe: September 2021-November 2023
This project was funded by the Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) Program administered by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) in the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
Curriculum for Project ECHO® Opioid and NAS program
The topics covered in the Project ECHO® clinics center around prevention, treatment, and recovery strategies to enhance the access to and quality of care provided to pregnant and parenting women with opioid use disorder and their infants living in rural communities.
Curriculum topics include, but are not limited to:
- Screening protocols
- Medication-assisted treatment in pregnancy
- Expanded screening for sexually transmitted infections
- Social determinants of health in prenatal care associated with opioid use disorder
- Pain management during labor and delivery
- Optimizing non-pharmacologic treatment and supportive care for neonatal abstinence disorder
- Reducing stigma and bias in health care teams
- "Eat, Sleep, Console" approach to neonatal abstinence disorder
- Addressing comorbidities
- Clinical workforce to support opioid use disorder and medication-assisted treatment services
- Postpartum care of pregnant patients with opioid use disorder
Program team
Program leaders are Neonatologist Kara Kuhn-Riordon, M.D., and Perinatal Psychiatrist Shannon Clark, M.D.
