Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) & Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation
Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes)
Project ECHO’s goal is to increase access to best practice cancer care for the vulnerable populations in the United States and around the world through incorporating the ECHO model in cancer prevention, screening, treatment, palliative care, and survivorship in the United States.
Need
Currently, 20% of the U.S. population lives in rural communities and only 3% of oncologists practice in these areas. This leads to smaller community practices handling a larger share of patient care.
Access to specialty care is often unavailable in these rural areas and patients are sent to specialty cancer centers with increasing wait times. Many of these patients return to their own communities and primary care providers for follow-up care and treatment. Implementing tools like the ECHO™ model gives an opportunity for these rural healthcare providers to consult specialists and develop the ability to better treat their patients.
Project
Project ECHO will work with cancer experts at National Cancer Institute (NCI) designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers (CCC) in the U.S. and abroad to expand the ECHO™ model. Our goal with this grant is to improve access to quality cancer prevention, screening, treatment, side-effect management, palliative care, and survivorship for underserved populations in the U.S. and around the world.
Project Leader
Sanjeev Arora, SArora@salud.unm.edu