ECHO Colorado (Extension for Community Health Outcomes), in partnership with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), is currently offering the National Nursing Home COVID Action Network (CAN), an ECHO learning series designed to advance improvements in COVID-19 preparedness, safety and infection control in nursing homes. Ongoing weekly learning sessions are held virtually on Thursdays from 7:00 to 8:00 AM, ending August 26. Designed for clinical and administrative leadership at nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities and other post-acute and long-term care communities, the series offers access to experts in infection control, patient safety, quality improvement and nursing home operations.

“The National Nursing Home CAN series creates a space for dialogue around COVID-19 and discussion of emerging information about vaccines and the virus,” said Leah Willis, Program Director at ECHO Colorado. “The ECHO model offers a rich way to learn in the environment created by the pandemic.”

“This series is providing an opportunity to share best practices, share struggles and work together as colleagues who share the mission of serving older adults in nursing homes well,” said Cari Levy, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Health Care Policy and Research at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; and Section Chief of Palliative Medicine and Director of the Denver Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Research at the Rocky Mountain VA Medical Center. Levy is a national palliative care and geriatrics expert who is serving as the project lead.

“The ECHO series is helpful in that it offers advice from professionals who help sort out information on COVID,” said Karen Buck, DON at Valley View Healthcare Center in Canon City, Colo. “The series also provides a safe place for facility workers to share ideas, vent when needed and it creates a feeling of knowing that each week you had a place to go that truly cared about you, your facility and stopping the spread of COVID.”

ECHO Colorado leverages web-based technology to disseminate curated medical knowledge to frontline providers through regularly scheduled ECHO sessions at which specialists and primary care clinicians meet in a collaborative focused on particular clinical or public health-related topics. The mission is to leverage the knowledge and experience of geographically-diverse communities for workforce development and improved health for all.

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COVID-19 Just-in-Time ECHO for Primary Care is an ECHO Colorado learning series that was created to provide up-to-the-minute information about the pandemic for the state’s primary care providers. On Monday, March 8, 2021 the series was delivered for the 100th time – most ECHO learning series consist of six to eight sessions – to the 100 providers who attend every Monday and Wednesday morning at 7:00 AM.

ECHO Colorado’s COVID-19 series started on March 27, 2020 to address the urgent information needs of providers in the primary care setting and this was made possible through a partnership between the University of Colorado School of Medicine and University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. A research team and a multi-disciplinary task force consisting of eight physicians, two pharmacists, a program director and a medical epidemiologist has driven the development of topics and content for each session. Throughout the series, experts from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and other state and local agencies have provided information on epidemiology, medication management, vaccine development and deployment, testing, primary care health policy, telemedicine, bioethics and more.

“The ability to collaborate remotely with health care professionals from a variety of backgrounds is really important to disseminating the right information and ensuring that Coloradans are getting the best care,” said Governor Jared Polis about COVID-19 Just-in-Time for Primary Care.

In the next phase of ECHO Colorado’s COVID-19 education series the focus will shift to post-COVID care. COVID Care in the Ambulatory Setting, beginning Monday, April 5, will focus on providing primary care physicians with the necessary practice knowledge to care for Coloradans who develop COVID or face post COVID complications. Sessions will continue to provide high level epidemiology updates, vaccination information, medication management development and policy updates with an added focus on the management of COVID patients in the outpatient setting, post discharge care and management of long-term complications.

“ECHO Colorado has spent the last year working intensely to meet the educational and practice needs of providers and health care systems facing the challenges of the COVID pandemic,” said John “Fred” Thomas, Executive Director of ECHO Colorado. “As the pandemic continues to evolve, the needs of the medical community have shifted, and ECHO’s COVID response is advancing to meet these needs.”

COVID Care in the Ambulatory Setting begins Monday, April 5. For information and to register click here.

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