The impact of project ECHO on physician preparedness to treat opioid use disorder: a systematic review

Abstract

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a medical condition that has evolved into a serious and deadly epidemic in the United States. Both medical and psychological interventions are called for to end this growing epidemic, but too few health care professionals are trained to treat OUD. One proven model of training physicians and cross-disciplinary teams in treating a variety of disorders is exemplified by Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes), a collaborative tele-mentoring program in which specialists train health-care workers to treat medical conditions, especially those that affect underserved populations. This systematic review found that Project ECHO has the potential to effectively extend current services to patients suffering from OUD, but that there is also a gap in knowledge regarding this type of training. The articles that we reviewed all presented evidence that Project ECHO improves healthcare provider preparedness to treat OUD, especially in regard to improving knowledge and self-efficacy.

Buprenorphine Utilization and Prescribing Among New Jersey Medicaid Beneficiaries After Adoption of Initiatives Designed to Improve Treatment Access

“…Efforts like New Jersey’s OBAT program, which increase reimbursement and assist prescribers in addressing patients’ psychosocial needs, have similarly found success in expanding availability and utilization of treatment services . Support for buprenorphine prescribers like that provided by New Jersey’s 2 MAT COEs, can also increase buprenorphine prescribing . Importantly, synergistic factors unique to New Jersey may account for the changes in buprenorphine use and prescribing observed in this study.…”

“…33 , 34 , 35 Support for buprenorphine prescribers like that provided by New Jersey’s 2 MAT COEs, can also increase buprenorphine prescribing. 35 , 36 , 37 Importantly, synergistic factors unique to New Jersey may account for the changes in buprenorphine use and prescribing observed in this study. Similar opioid-related policies may have different outcomes across states, as policy effects depend on contextual factors and state-specific efforts.…”

“…[33][34][35] Support for buprenorphine prescribers like that provided by New Jersey's 2 MAT COEs, can also increase buprenorphine prescribing. [35][36][37] Importantly, synergistic factors unique to New Jersey may account for the changes in buprenorphine use and prescribing observed in this study.…”

Accelerating guideline dissemination in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic: A patient-centered randomized controlled trial

“…While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published guidance to assist nursing homes in addressing the pandemic, 7 effective implementation requires organizational capacity, staff engagement, and problem-solving. 8 We identified Project ECHO (Extensions for Community Health Outcomes), an evidence-based telehealth model, 9 , 10 , 11 as one pathway to overcoming this translational gap. We tested an intervention utilizing Project ECHO to virtually connect academic medicine experts with nursing home staff and administrators to proactively support evidence-based infection control guideline implementation.…”

Implementation and Evaluation of Primary Care Team Participation in Opioid Use Disorder Learning Sessions

“…Project ECHO has shown to impact primary care clinicians' knowledge, confidence, and/or self-efficacy on several topics, including OUD. 22,[28][29][30][31][32] In fact, the ECHO Institute lists 212 Opioid and Pain Related ECHO programs globally. 33 Established in 2003, Project ECHO is described as an innovative tele-mentoring program bringing together healthcare providers and subject matter experts (SMEs) using videoconference technology and merging brief lecture presentations with case-based learning.…”