Leveraging Scarce Resources With Bone Health TeleECHO to Improve the Care of Osteoporosis

Authors

E Michael Lewiecki, New Mexico Clinical Research & Osteoporosis Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106
Rachelle Rochelle, The ECHO Institute, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102
Matthew F. Bouchonville, Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106
David H. Chafey, Department of Orthopedics & Rehabilitation, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106
Thomas P. Olenginski, Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, Pennsylvania 17822
Sanjeev Arora, Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-2017

Abstract

Osteoporosis is a common condition with serious consequences because of fractures. Despite availability of treatments to reduce fracture risk, there is a large osteoporosis treatment gap that has reached crisis proportions. There are too few specialists to provide services for patients who need them. Bone Health Extension for Community Health Care Outcomes (TeleECHO) is a strategy using real-time ongoing videoconferencing technology to mentor health care professionals in rural and underserved communities to achieve an advanced level of knowledge for the care of patients with skeletal diseases. Over the first 21 months of weekly Bone Health TeleECHO programs, there were 263 registered health care professionals in the United States and several other countries, with 221 attending at least 1 online clinic and typically 35 to 40 attendees at each session at the end of the reported period. Assessment of self-confidence in 20 domains of osteoporosis care showed substantial improvement with the ECHO intervention (

Recommended Citation

Lewiecki EM, Rochelle R, Bouchonville MF 2nd, Chafey DH, Olenginski TP, Arora S. Leveraging Scarce Resources With Bone Health TeleECHO to Improve the Care of Osteoporosis. J Endocr Soc. 2017 Nov 6;1(12):1428-1434. doi: 10.1210/js.2017-00361. PMID: 29264466; PMCID: PMC5695652.