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May 7, 2025

Bridging Expertise and Practice: How ECHO Colorado Strengthens Public Health

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Public health is constantly evolving, requiring rapid responses to emerging threats, continuous workforce training, and strong partnerships that connect academia, government and community practice. ECHO Colorado, part of the Peer Mentored Care Collaborative (PMCC) at the University of Colorado’s School of Medicine, provides scalable, real-time public health education, an approach that shares knowledge efficiently to keep up with evolving public health needs.

Colorado’s recent syphilis epidemic underscores the need for rapid public health responses. From 2018 to 2023, syphilis cases in the state tripled, while congenital syphilis saw a seven-fold increase. In April 2024, Governor Polis declared a public health emergency, prompting the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE) to lead a collaborative effort to curb transmission. As part of this response, in June 2024 CDPHE partnered with ECHO Colorado to launch Syphilis in Colorado: A Call to Action, a four-week ECHO series focused on improving screening, identification and treatment statewide. Through this innovative learning model, 170 frontline professionals engaged in real-time, case-based learning with experts. After the series, 77 percent of respondents reported feeling very confident to extremely confident in their ability to test for syphilis, compared to just 55 percent who felt the same way before the series.

As the syphilis epidemic continues to impact Colorado one year later, ECHO and CDPHE are collaborating on an updated ECHO that launches June 12. Syphilis Updates and Action Planning for Colorado 2025 will equip professionals across Colorado’s health care, public health and corrections systems with the knowledge, skills and resources to effectively address the increasing prevalence of syphilis in communities across the state. Click here to read more and to register.

A Model for Public Health Collaboration
The syphilis response is just one example of how ECHO Colorado and CDPHE have partnered to tackle urgent public health challenges. Over the years, ECHO Colorado has played a pivotal role in the development, implementation and analysis of several public health-related ECHO series related to COVID-19, childhood lead poisoning prevention, breastfeeding and cancer survivor care navigation. This year ECHO and CDPHE are relaunching Colorado Updates in Public Health, a monthly series providing real-time updates on emerging issues, policy changes and best practices for clinical and public health professionals across the state.

“ECHO bridges the gap between public health knowledge and action,” said Devin Miller, PMCC Director of Operations. “And it’s more than just knowledge-sharing, ECHO Colorado breaks down professional silos, fosters unique partnerships, and disseminates evidence-based strategies that can be immediately implemented.”

Scaling Public Health Solutions
For public health leaders, grant-writers and policymakers, ECHO Colorado represents a scalable, data-driven model for workforce development, community engagement and rapid knowledge dissemination. As funding priorities shift toward innovative, systems-based approaches, ECHO Colorado provides an evidence-based framework that can be leveraged for statewide and national public health initiatives.

Interested in partnering with ECHO Colorado? Contact Devin Miller to explore how we can work together to strengthen public health action across Colorado.

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Apr 6, 2025

CASCHEW 2025 FOSTERS CONNECTIONS ACROSS INDUSTRIES

Held on March 28-30 in Colorado Springs, CASCHEW 2025 welcomed over 100 attendees to focus on engaging Colorado communities to advance health by moving from dialogue

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Held on March 28-30 in Colorado Springs, CASCHEW 2025 welcomed over 100 attendees to focus on engaging Colorado communities to advance health by moving from dialogue to action. Attendees included project participants, community partners, public health departments/organizations, clinic staff, primary care clinicians and medical and academic partners. The overall goal of the conference was to celebrate achievements, foster meaningful connections, and increase and support attendees’ capacity to create change in their personal and professional lives with actionable strategies. This year’s conference was sponsored by the Colorado Community Engagement Alliance (CO-CEAL), the Alliance (State Network of Colorado Ambulatory Practices and Partners and the Practice Innovation Program), and the Peer Mentored Care Collaborative (PMCC).

The conference opened with a welcome reception and poster session where attendees could network and learn about research going on across the state focusing on patient and community engagement, practice-specific research and medical topics. For the keynote session attendees welcomed Al Richmond, MSW, Executive Director of Community-Campus Partnerships for Health. Al provided insights into the importance of community engagement in research and shared a model to build a national movement for improving health in all communities.

“Al Richmond was an excellent keynote speaker and then ‘weaver’ of conference experiences; he was approachable and engaging and very experienced with Community-Campus Partnerships,” said attendee and PMCC partner Sandy Fritsch, M.D., MSEd, DFAACAP, Medical Director, Pediatric Mental Health Institute, Children’s Hospital Colorado and Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine. “For me it was great to hear from the communities and their voices—this is powerful for folks who are more academically focused.”

Twelve sessions were held throughout the weekend that highlighted the work being done by groups that can benefit from greater collaboration and dissemination across sectors. Session titles included Behavioral Health and Health Related Social Needs: Health in Colorado Primary Care Practices, Bridging Gaps in Newcomer Health: Policy and Program Strategies to Improve Health, and Leveraging eConsults and ECHO to Strengthen Community-Academic Partnerships.

“CASCHEW offered a treasure trove of insights, invaluable resources and networking opportunities with key players dedicated to advancing health and wellness across Colorado,” said attendee Nate Koller, eConsults Manager, PMCC. “Despite the backdrop of uncertainty facing many of the organizations and programs represented, the conference radiated hope, reminding participants that progress can continue, even if it takes on a new form for a while.”

“This was my second time attending the CASCHEW conference, and it was even more insightful than my first experience,” said attendee and PMCC partner Jessie Henderson, CPFS, Peer Support Specialist, University of Colorado WORTH Program. “What makes this conference particularly valuable is the diverse cross-section of attendees—providers, legislators, workforce members and the very communities we’re trying to reach. These cross-sector relationships are especially crucial right now in healthcare. The thoughtfully curated content created space for different perspectives to be heard and appreciated. I’m grateful to everyone who organized this important event that continues to foster connections across our industry.”

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Mar 4, 2025

CoPPCAP Partners with ECHO to Address Colorado’s Youth Mental Health Crisis

Colorado is currently experiencing a significant youth mental health crisis. Suicide is the leading cause of death for young people in the state, and Children’s Hospital

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Colorado is currently experiencing a significant youth mental health crisis. Suicide is the leading cause of death for young people in the state, and Children’s Hospital Colorado has reported that rates of anxiety and depression among Colorado kids doubled during the pandemic, with 44 percent of teens feeling persistently sad or hopeless. Pediatric primary care is most often the first stop for assessment and treatment of pediatric behavioral concerns, yet the education and training to assess and treat mild to moderate behavioral health conditions may be lacking for many providers.

To help address this crisis, in March 2020, the Colorado Pediatric Psychiatry Consultation & Access Program (CoPPCAP) partnered with ECHO Colorado to offer Pediatric Psychiatry in Primary Care: Core Essentials, a seven-week ECHO series designed to equip participants with the knowledge to diagnose and treat mild to moderate pediatric behavioral health conditions. The program has evolved to meet provider needs and CoPPCAP has developed two additional series (Beyond Core Essentials and Above and Beyond Core Essentials) as part of the program. In all, CoPPCAP has offered 29 ECHO cohorts on pediatric psychiatry, serving 423 providers.

Learning based on ECHO’s “all teach all learn” model has been shown to lead providers to positively change their screening and treatment practices. ECHO sessions include input from parent panelists, pediatric psychiatric pharmacists, pediatricians and child psychologists, and case-based discussions. The series align with the recommended Mental Health Competencies as defined by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“With earlier treatment in childhood, it is hoped that some of the comorbidities seen in the teen years will be lessened,” said Sandra Fritsch, M.D., MSEd, DFAACAP, Medical Director, Pediatric Mental Health Institute, Children’s Hospital Colorado. “We also are acutely aware of the many professional challenges facing our pediatric primary care providers and blend self-care principles into the series.”

Cohort 16 of Pediatric Psychiatry in Primary Care: Core Essentials runs March 20 to May 1. Topics include assessment and screening, “What is Therapy,” assessing and treating anxiety, ADHD and depression, trauma and assessing suicidality. Each session includes a didactic presentation by an expert followed by case discussion and Q&A with the experts. Click here for more information and to register.

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Feb 4, 2025

Partner Spotlight: Partners for Children’s Mental Health

We asked Partners for Children’s Mental Health (PCMH) a few questions about why they sought to partner with ECHO to disseminate knowledge about pediatric suicide prevention

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We asked Partners for Children’s Mental Health (PCMH) a few questions about why they sought to partner with ECHO to disseminate knowledge about pediatric suicide prevention in primary care. Here’s what they had to say.

Q. What lead you to choose ECHO to educate the healthcare community about pediatric suicide prevention?
A. PCMH launched our program, Pathway to Suicide Prevention, in 2020 when the timing wasn’t appropriate for in-person trainings. Despite the pandemic, we were still passionate about improving patient care so we asked colleagues and researched the best way to spread this information. ECHO Colorado kept coming up as a valuable way to educate healthcare professionals, so we sought out a partnership. What we found is an amazing education platform that informs the primary care population on improving health outcomes.

Today, post pandemic, we offer in-person education, but the value of ECHO is how it enables us to reach providers throughout Colorado. ECHO serves as our communication platform for helping more primary care providers improve their adolescent suicide screening rates. We are so grateful to be able to work with ECHO and the wonderful community that they have built to help improve patient care in Colorado.

Q. Has the collaboration been successful? How?
A. Yes. Since 2022 we have trained over 400 providers on the Pathway to Suicide Prevention. We have developed two ECHO series that have been helpful in expanding our reach across the state and the nation! The ECHO team is organized and easy to work with, from planning a series to coordinating new cohorts. They are always on top of deadlines and eager to help meet our needs. We love working with our project coordinator, Ashley Clark, as her insight and experience have been so valuable to our team. With ECHO we can share our information quickly and reach an amazing community of healthcare professionals.

Q. Is there anything you want providers to know about the upcoming cohort?
A. Our second ECHO series, Navigating Complexities in Youth Experiencing Suicidality in Primary Care, builds on the original series, Pediatric Suicide Prevention: A Practical Care Pathway for Primary Care. We heard from providers who, after completing the first series, said they felt confident and ready to take on more complex mental health presentations. They explained to us through surveys that there were common barriers they wanted to address and questions on next steps in supporting families. From navigating family systems to supporting families with mental health resources, providers can learn about complex mental health cases in the primary care clinic.

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