Feasibility, acceptability, and sustainability of Project ECHO to expand capacity for pediatricians in Vietnam

Abstract

Background The Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) model is considered a platform for academic medical centers to expand their healthcare workforce capacity to medically underserved populations. It has been known as an effective solution of continuing medical education (CME) for healthcare workers that used a hub-and-spoke model to leverage knowledge from specialists to primary healthcare providers in different regions. In this study, we aim to explore the views of healthcare providers and hospital leaders regarding the feasibility, acceptability, and sustainability of Project ECHO for pediatricians. Methods This qualitative study was conducted at the Vietnam National Children’s Hospital and its satellite hospitals from July to December 2020. We conducted 39 in-depth interviews with hospital managers and healthcare providers who participated in online Project ECHO courses. A thematic analysis approach was performed to extract the qualitative data from in-depth interviews. Results Project ECHO shows high feasibility when healthcare providers find motivated to improve their professional knowledge. Besides, they realized the advantages of saving time and money with online training. Although the courses had been covered fully by the Ministry of Health’s fund, the participants said they could pay fees or be supported by the hospital’s fund. In particular, the expectation of attaining the CME-credited certificates after completing the course also contributes to the sustainability of the program. Project ECHO’s online courses should be improved if the session was better monitored with suitable time arrangements. Conclusions Project ECHO model is highly feasible, acceptable, and sustainable as it brings great benefits to the healthcare providers, and is appropriate with the policy theme of continuing medical education of the Ministry of Health. We recommend that further studies should be conducted to assess the impact of the ECHO program, especially for patient and community outcomes.

Using the project ECHO™ model to teach mental health topics in rural Guatemala: An implementation science-guided evaluation

“…bandwidth), funding, facilitators/clinicians’ time, and education credits/certification were some that might make it difficult to maintain this program. Funding stability is one of the largest threats to maintenance, despite promising environmental support and capacity for adaptation and evaluation of the program; investments in developing infrastructure and investment in human resources, network and devices could greatly improve participation in further ECHO™ programs (Nhung et al, 2021; Walters et al, 2022). One possibility of expanding access to funding may be connection and collaboration between this team’s ECHO™ Hub in Guatemala (UVG) and other hubs throughout Latin America (e.g.…”

“…Project ECHO™ programs have been shown to increase self-efficacy of primary care physicians to manage pain, hepatitis C virus (HCV), resistant hypertension, HIV care, and overall health and social issues of vulnerable populations (Anderson et al, 2017; Arora et al, 2010; Damian et al, 2020; Socolovsky et al, 2013; Wood et al, 2016). Implementation outcomes, such as feasibility, acceptability, appropriateness, and sustainability to providing medical education, have also been favorable (Damian et al, 2020; Nhung et al, 2021). Prior participants in Project ECHO™ reported increased knowledge of mental health treatment and decreased professional isolation (Mehrotra et al, 2018).…”