Mar 4, 2024

PMCC ARTICLE SUMMARIZES HOW eCONSULTS REDUCE ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS ASSOCIATED WITH HEALTH CARE DELIVERY

The Peer Mentored Care Collaborative (PMCC), a business unit within the CU Anschutz Dean of Medicine’s Office, consists of two innovative programs: ECHO Colorado and the

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The Peer Mentored Care Collaborative (PMCC), a business unit within the CU Anschutz Dean of Medicine’s Office, consists of two innovative programs: ECHO Colorado and the CU School of Medicine eConsult program. Through these programs, providers are able to access tools to drive new care models and to build collaborations with colleagues on campus and across the state aimed at improving care delivery and improving quadruple aims.

An example of these efforts is highlighted in a recently published article in Telemedicine and e-Health written by six members of the Anschutz campus community. The article summarizes the known benefits of eConsults, while also emphasizing another benefit of these programs of great interest to campus and state government leadership: the environmental benefits of using eConsults to deliver care. In the article Reduction of Environmental Pollutants and Travel Burden Through an Academic Medical Center-based Electronic Consultation Program, the authors reviewed 15,499 eConsults between July 2018 and December 2022 and their findings tally how eConsults reduce the environmental pollutants associated with health care delivery:

  • A reduction of 310,858 miles of in-state travel
  • 5,491 hours of saved travel time
  • Fuel reduction of 13,575 gallons
  • A reduction of 77 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions

John “Fred” Thomas, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Executive Director of PMCC is the senior author. “Time spent traveling to and from health care clinics, waiting for appointments, consulting with providers and receiving care creates a significant burden that often limits access to care, especially for rural patients. eConsults not only improve access and quality of care for patients, they reduce the environmental impact of pollutants associated with face-to-face visits,” said Thomas.

Authors include Susan More, Stephanie Grim, Rodger Kessler, Mayra Loera De Luna and Devin Miller.

Want to learn more about the eConsult program? Contact Devin Miller, PMCC Director of Operations.

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Jan 19, 2024

A Message from the Executive Director

As we kick off the new year we have much to celebrate. Thanks to you, our partners and colleagues, we have continued to grow our programmatic

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As we kick off the new year we have much to celebrate. Thanks to you, our partners and colleagues, we have continued to grow our programmatic efforts according to most any measure you could think of: number of offerings, number of learners, and perhaps most importantly, through impact. This, along with a number of meaningful staff additions — a new medical director, Dr. David Saxon, and a new director of operations, Devin Miller — leaves us well positioned for a fruitful 2024.

Last year we reached a new milestone. It has been 10 years since a group of leaders from each of the CU Anschutz Medical Campus’s professional schools and affiliated hospitals decided to initiate planning to develop ECHO Colorado. And it’s been over three years since we added the electronic consultation (eConsults) effort and merged the two into a business unit, the Peer Mentored Care Collaborative. Both of these types of telehealth demonstrated their remarkable value during the COVID-19 pandemic and provided great value to many patients, providers and local communities. They are now interwoven into a continuum of care that continues to improve access, lower costs and improve patient and provider satisfaction. Each year thousands of local providers connect to the world-renowned expertise available through the Anschutz Medical Campus and are thus able to provide best practice care to patients closer to home.

It is our partnership with people like you that makes these efforts possible. Please reach out to let us know your stories and/or how we can improve what we do to improve the health of Colorado.

Thank you again and please don’t hesitate to reach out with suggestions, requests or new opportunities. Have a great 2024.

John F. “Fred” Thomas, PhD
Professor, University of Colorado School of Medicine
Professor, University of Colorado School of Public Health
Executive Director, Peer Mentored Care Collaborative (PMCC)

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Dec 4, 2023

DR. DAVID SAXON JOINS PMCC AS NEW MEDICAL DIRECTOR HELPING OVERSEE IMPLEMENTATION OF TWO INNOVATIVE CARE DELIVERY MODELS

David Saxon MD, assistant professor at University of Colorado School of Medicine and chief of endocrinology at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center, has joined

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David Saxon MD, assistant professor at University of Colorado School of Medicine and chief of endocrinology at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center, has joined the Peer Mentored Care Collaborative (PMCC) as medical director. In this role, Saxon will help oversee the continued development and implementation of PMCC’s innovative care delivery models — ECHO Colorado and eConsults — in partnership with PMCC’s executive director and director of operations.

Saxon’s vision is to grow PMCC’s regional and national reputation through the enhancement of collaborations between people and institutions doing similar work, and by further developing the unique opportunity to combine ECHOs and eConsults in a way that leads to measurable patient care outcomes.

Saxon is a general endocrinologist with specific clinical and academic interests in diabetes, obesity and lipid disorders. A graduate of Washington University in St. Louis with a bachelor’s in anthropology, Saxon received his MD from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine. He did his internship and residency training in internal medicine at the University of Michigan, and completed a fellowship in endocrinology, metabolism and diabetes at the University of Colorado. He also holds a master’s degree in clinical sciences. He has published book chapters and journal articles on a variety of endocrine topics. Outside of work he enjoys going to live music, drinking lots of coffee and hiking and skiing with his wife and three children.

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Nov 1, 2023

PAST THE PANDEMIC ECHO SERIES SERVES MORE THAN 900, BECOMES PART OF CDPHE’S STATEWIDE CO-CARES

The prevalence of burnout and increasing concerns about retention of employees across the landscape of health care and public health workers created a mandate for intervention

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The prevalence of burnout and increasing concerns about retention of employees across the landscape of health care and public health workers created a mandate for intervention starting in July 2020, when the Past the Pandemic ECHO series was launched. A partnership between University of Colorado Department of Psychiatry and ECHO Colorado, Past the Pandemic has delivered its specialized curriculum via live sessions to 17 cohorts and more than 900 participants in Colorado and 26 other states.

Acknowledging the chronic and changing nature of stress faced by health care and public health workers, the series has been improved and adapted to fit the current scope of needs. During the series, experts with decades of experience working with first responders and health care workers present and lead discussions on a variety of topics to build skills to increase capacity and mitigate the impact of stress and burnout. Following completion of Past the Pandemic, participants reported improvements in their sense of connection and ability to manage stress and worries.

Today, Past the Pandemic is part of CDPHE’s statewide CO-CARES initiative (Colorado Alliance for Resilient and Equitable Systems), serving the health care and public health workforce. This collaboration between many partners offers support and evidence-based resources at no cost to to individuals, peer champions and organizations. One example of an additional training is becoming a Certified Peer Specialist. Training employees in this program helps improve the culture of care and wellbeing, as Peer Supporters learn skills needed to notice and respond to their coworkers’ mental health distress and point them to local resources.

The Department of Psychiatry’s partnerships with CDPHE and other CO-CARES programs has been a humbling experience, as they recognize the breadth and depth of what may be needed to improve a system of care and wellbeing.

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