ECHO Colorado, part of University of Colorado’s Peer Mentored Care Collaborative (PMCC), recently launched the ninth and final asynchronous course as part of the CDC-funded Long COVID and Fatiguing Illness Recovery Program. The series of nine courses was created due to the growing number of Long COVID cases being seen in primary care, and focused on enabling PCPs to assess and manage the condition in the outpatient setting.

The final course, A Multidisciplinary Approach to Long COVID Care: Three Case Studies, walks through real-world case studies via video, offering relevant insights into the epidemiology, pathophysiology and clinical management of brain fog, orthostatic intolerance and PEM/fatigue associated with Long COVID. The course is open now through March 7, 2025.

Additional PMCC programs addressing the need for improved Long COVID care are scheduled to launch later this year. PMCC is one of nine $5 million grant awardees announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). ECHO Colorado programs supported by the grant include live and asynchronous learning opportunities for primary care providers. The funds will also enable PMCC to develop eConsult support for a broadening range of primary care providers struggling with the presentation and management of Long COVID in patients.

“Long COVID is an important public health threat impacting millions of individuals, including 600,000 Coloradans, and currently care for Long COVID is fragmented, variable in nature and in constant evolution,” said John “Fred” Thomas, PhD, PMCC Executive Director and Professor, University of Colorado School of Medicine and School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology. “This funding will support the implementation of integrated, multidisciplinary Long COVID care in Colorado via PMCC’s ECHO and eConsults platforms.”

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The U.S. is facing an overall shortage of physicians, at least half of which is among specialty medicine physicians such as urologists. The declining urology workforce in the U.S. is at risk of primarily threatening access to care in rural communities. According to the American Urological Association’s (AUA) census report, in 2022 only 20.1 percent of urologists in the U.S. practiced in designated nonmetropolitan areas (defined as a population size less than 50,000). From another view, only 37 percent of all counties nationally were identified as having a practicing urologist. (AUA News, Urology Workforce Trends and Impact on Rural Practice)

This situation is also a disparity matter. Patients in rural communities are commonly older, poorer, sicker and more remote from health care services than patients in urban areas. The relative lack of a urological workforce in these communities contributes to health care disparity.

ECHO Colorado and University of Colorado School of Medicine Division of Urology started offering the urology ECHO in September 2022 to address the need for increased access to specialized knowledge and support for patients with urologic conditions, focusing on underserved patient populations and rural areas. The Urology ECHO program aims to mitigate the effects of the workforce shortage, preserve access to appropriate and timely urologic care, and expand access to care by expanding the knowledge base of primary care physicians and providers.

“The other faculty presenters and I greatly enjoy the interactive nature of the sessions,” said Janine Oliver, MD, FPMRS, lead ECHO partner; co-director, Anschutz Medical Campus Urogynecology Multidisiplinary Clinic; and assistant professor, CU School of Medicine Division of Urology. “The ECHO platform is engaging, and it is rewarding to hear and share experiences with our physician and APP colleagues in primary care. We love hearing the feedback from the participants about how the ECHO sessions have led to knowledge gains and directly had an impact on quality and access to care by changes in their practices.”

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