COVID-19 Telehealth for Indian Country: Tribal Response to an Emerging Pandemic

Abstract

American Indian/Alaska Native communities are at higher risk of poor outcomes from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board’s program Indian Country Extensions for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) initiated telehealth sessions for health professionals. All resources were centralized at www.IndianCountryECHO.org. In its first six weeks, the program had 4,579 attendees. Participants submitted 563 questions to specialists. There were 22,683 webpage views, more than three times the pre-COVID-19 baseline. Evaluation found 94 percent of clinicians reported knowledge increase and 93 percent reported greater social support, demonstrating that a teleECHO network serving Indian country is an important part of emergency response.