A Just-in-Time Implementation of an Extension for Community Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program for Support of Primary Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Leggott, Kyle; Willis, Leah; Saseen, Joseph; Burakoff, Alexis; Fish, Douglas; Oberst-Walsh, Linda; Cook, Kurt; Thomas, John Fred

As was experienced across the country, the COVID-19 pandemic reached Colorado in early spring 2020. Yet, unlike many of the early hotspots in other states, the initial cases in Colorado surfaced in rural areas. It was evident early on it would be a public health crisis unlike anything Colorado had ever faced. There was an urgent need for rapid dissemination of up-to-date information and practice support provided by a multidisciplinary task force of academic health center and state public health experts working collaboratively to meet these needs. This article provides a roadmap for the development of a similar model, a community-connected Extension for Community Health Outcomes (ECHO) program based at an academic medical center and its ability to facilitate the service rapidly and scale to need.