FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018
Contact:  Michele McKnight, Community and Media Relations Coordinator, Marshall Health 304-552-7982

Marshall School of Medicine supports rural primary care providers through monthly teleECHO™ clinics

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, in partnership with Project ECHO® (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes), now offers teleECHO™ training sessions at noon on the first Tuesday of each month.

“TeleECHO clinics are basically interactive sessions between specialists and primary care providers who are serving an often rural patient population,” said Jennifer Plymale, director of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Rural Health at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. “These sessions allow the rural providers to participate from their clinics, therefore eliminating time away from their offices or their families.” 

The clinics connect primary care providers from multiple locations with a team of specialists using low cost, multi-point videoconferencing. The providers present de-identified patient cases, and the specialists provide expertise on managing patients with chronic, common and complicated conditions. The case-based discussions are supplemented with short didactic presentations to improve content knowledge and share evidence-based best practices.

Primary care provider participation in teleECHO clinics is free and includes continuing medical education (CME) opportunities. The technology needed can be as simple as an individual using a laptop, a hand-held mobile device, a small room set-up for one or two people, or a videoconferencing room to allow the participation of groups.

“Currently, the teleECHO clinics alternate between a focus on endocrinology and cardiology,” Plymale said. “We may later expand to include sessions about substance use disorder and the geriatric population.”

Primary care providers interested in participating in these teleECHO clinics may contact Plymale by e-mail at plymale@marshall.edu. The next clinic is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 4. 

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Date Posted: Wednesday, November 14, 2018