A Model for Helping the “Superutilizers” of Health Services
<p>For more than a decade, the University of New Mexico’s Project ECHO has been using telehealth to support primary care clinicians caring for complex patients in underserved communities. </p><p>Now Project ECHO—short for Extension for Community Health Outcomes—is training five primary care teams in the field to work with “superutilizers,” Medicaid beneficiaries whose high health care costs stem from substance use, mental illness, and physical health problems, often compounded by poverty and social isolation. Through regular videoconferences with experts in addiction medicine, psychiatry, and other fields, team members receive guidance in treating behavioral health problems and connecting patients with housing and other social supports.</p>
<p>In the second of our profiles of care models for high-need, high-cost patients, you can learn more about how this innovative program works, the personal stories of patients it’s helped, and key issues in replicating its success in other U.S. communities.</p>