Telementoring With Project ECHO: A New Era in Diabetes-Related Continuing Education for Primary Care to Address Health Disparities

Abstract

Project ECHO® is a telementoring workforce development model that targets under-resourced communities lacking access to specialty care. The model builds virtual communities of practice, including specialists and community primary care professionals (PCPs) to combat clinical inertia and health disparities. While the ECHO model has gained global recognition, implementation of the model related to diabetes is lagging compared to other specialty conditions. This review highlights diabetes-endocrine (ENDO)-focused ECHOs using data reported in the ECHO Institute’s centralized data repository (iECHO) and the learning collaborative for diabetes ECHOs. It also describes the implementation of diabetes ECHOs and their evaluation. Learner and patient-centered outcomes related to diabetes ECHOs are reviewed. Program implementation and evaluations have demonstrated utility of the ECHO model for diabetes programs to (1) address unmet needs of diabetes care in the primary care setting, (2) improve knowledge and confidence in managing complex diabetes and change provider prescribing habits, (3) improve patient outcomes, and (4) address diabetes quality improvement practices in primary care. More studies with broader collaboration among sites are needed to evaluate the model related to diabetes, especially applied to addressing therapeutic inertia, adoption of diabetes technology, and reducing health disparities.