Technology for improving accessibility of end-of-life care: Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes Project

Purpose of review To describe how Project ECHO works and to analyze what has been published on Project ECHO Palliative Care (Project ECHO PC) over the last 18 months. Recent findings Only two articles on Project ECHO PC have been published over the last 18 months: a descriptive study of experiences in seven health centers of the United States, the United Kingdom, Uruguay and India; and a quantitative and qualitative study of the impact of the teleECHO clinic on physicians and nurses in Northern Ireland, which reports a significant boost in knowledge acquisition and self-efficacy. Summary Project ECHO is an innovative telemedicine strategy, which creates learning communities, which use a standardized methodology and benefits healthcare professionals, particularly primary care providers or practitioners based on remote or rural areas. Since 2011, Project ECHO PC has been implemented in 12 health centers in 4 different countries, with greater growth in 2017. It has facilitated a wider access to professional education, improvements in clinical practice and knowledge acquisition, the development of professional curricula and more confidence and self-efficacy among healthcare professionals. Project ECHO PC is engaged in several international initiatives to aid countries with different degrees of palliative care development. Correspondence to Gabriela Píriz Alvarez, Internal Medicine and Palliative Care Specialist, Adult Palliative Care teleECHO Clinic Coordinator, Hospital Maciel Palliative Care Service – Medical School, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay. Tel: +598 99665618; e-mail: gpirizalvarez@gmail.com Copyright © 2018 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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