BRIDGE ECHO
About Project ECHO
Project ECHO is a lifelong learning and guided practice model that revolutionizes medical education and exponentially increases workforce capacity to provide best-practice specialty care and reduce health disparities. The ECHO model does not actually “provide” care to patients. Instead, it dramatically increases access to specialty treatment by providing front-line clinicians with the knowledge and support they need to manage patients with complex conditions such as: hepatitis C, HIV, tuberculosis, chronic pain, endocrinology, behavioral health disorders, and many others. It does this by engaging clinicians in a continuous learning system and partnering them with specialist mentors at an academic medical center.
Replication of the ECHO model is achieved through the creation of ECHO “hubs” or regional centers, in which partner sites or “spokes” connect through tele ECHO clinics, gaining specialty expertise and knowledge. The ECHO model has been successfully replicated across the United States and around the globe. A number of studies have been published that explain the Project ECHO model and describe its results. Studies have shown improved outcomes in underserved populations, older adults and in urban settings as a result of Project ECHO implementation.
About BRIDGE ECHO
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Department of Psychiatry and the BRIDGE Program have partnered with the University of New Mexico and Project ECHO to develop the BRIDGE ECHO.
BRIDGE ECHO leverages our BRIDGE faculty - all geriatric specialists - to provide Brooklyn's primary care providers with case-based continuing education on specialty geriatric, geriatric mental health, and dementia care. It is our hope that BRIDGE ECHO will improve the quality of care for all of Brooklyn's underserved elder populations by increasing the primary care provider knowledge base.
BRIDGE ECHO Schedule and Topics
*Schedule forthcoming*
1 Note: This program is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $3.75 million with zero percentage financed with nongovernmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.