A Burgeoning Model to Expand Physician Capacity in Underserved Areas
<p>The recently passed Expanding Capacity for Health Outcomes Act instructs the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to study a distance-learning approach that could expand capacity to treat patients in medically underserved regions—Project ECHO (Extension for Community Health Outcomes).</p><p>In Project ECHO clinics, medical specialists hold videoconferences with community providers, offering them guidance and support to treat patients with diseases such as hepatitis C, diabetes, and epilepsy. Evidence indicates this kind of support can enable primary care physicians to be as effective as specialists in managing these and certain other conditions.</p>
<p>For our latest Q&A, we spoke with Norman Sussman, M.D., a hepatologist who launched Baylor University’s ECHO program in 2014.</p>