Educating health professionals about COVID-19 with ECHO telementoring.

Authors

Joanna G Katzman, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, ECHO Institute, Albuquerque, NM
Karla Thornton, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, ECHO Institute, Albuquerque, NM
Nestor Sosa, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM
Laura Tomedi, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, ECHO Institute, Albuquerque, NM
Leslie Hayes, Division of Family Medicine, El Centro Family Health, Espanola, NM
Marla Sievers, New Mexico Department of Health, Infectious Disease Epidemiology Bureau, Santa Fe, NM
Karissa Culbreath, Tricore Reference Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM
Kent Norsworthy, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, ECHO Institute, Albuquerque, NM
Chamron Martin, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, ECHO Institute, Albuquerque, NM
Alaina Martinez, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, ECHO Institute, Albuquerque, NM
Jinyang Liu, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, ECHO Institute, Albuquerque, NM
Sanjeev Arora, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, ECHO Institute, Albuquerque, NM

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-1-2022

Abstract

BACKGROUND: When the COVID-19 pandemic began, primary care clinicians had almost no knowledge regarding best practices COVID-19 treatment. Project ECHO developed a COVID-19 Infectious Disease Office Hours (Office Hours) program to respond to the needs of clinicians seeking COVID-19 information.

METHODS: This mixed-methods evaluation analyzed weekly post-session data and focus group results from the weekly Office Hours ECHO sessions during June 1, 2020- May 31, 2021.

RESULTS: A total of 1,421 participants attended an average of 4.9 sessions during the 45 Office Hours sessions studied. The most common specialties included: nurses= 530 (37%), physicians= 284 (20%), and 493 (34%) having other degrees. The participants stated that they were definitely (68.2%) or probably (22.0%) going to use what they learned in their work, especially vaccination information. Focus group results identified these themes: 1) quality information, 2) community of practice, 3) interprofessional learning, and 4) increased knowledge, confidence, and practice change.

CONCLUSIONS: This evaluation demonstrates that the Office Hours program was successful in bringing a large group of health professionals together each week in a virtual community of practice. The participants acknowledged their plans to use the information gained with their patients. This diffusion of knowledge from clinician to patient amplifies the response of the program, changes practice behavior and may improve patient care.

Recommended Citation

Katzman JG, Thornton K, Sosa N, Tomedi L, Hayes L, Sievers M, Culbreath K, Norsworthy K, Martin C, Martinez A, Liu J, Arora S. Educating health professionals about COVID-19 with ECHO telementoring. Am J Infect Control. 2022 Mar;50(3):283-288. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2021.10.030. Epub 2021 Nov 3. PMID: 34740679; PMCID: PMC8563092.