Supporting rural primary care through Project ECHO: A brief case report

Abstract

Rural primary care providers report increasing rates of professional burnout, which can further exacerbate rural provider shortages and health disparities. From 2023 to 2025, the Project ECHO team at Penn State University developed and delivered an educational rural health telementoring program, collaboratively with stakeholders, to disseminate guideline-concordant care to rural primary care clinicians. The program focused on key rural topics and created a professional learning community aimed at decreasing participant burnout. Self-reported results of the pilot program’s participants (n = 106) demonstrate increased knowledge (p < .001) and reduced professional isolation. Future programing will expand data collection to explore longer-term impact.