The Military Health System (MHS) is incorporating the telehealth project known as “Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes” or referred to as Project ECHO into DOD’s daily practice of medicine.
Project ECHO was originally developed by Dr. Sanjeev Aurora at the University of New Mexico and the university has now introduced ECHO clinics at 32 hubs in the U.S and six more hubs in India, Canada, and Northern Ireland.
Project ECHO utilizes a collocated multidisciplinary team of specialists who use regular video teleconferences to mentor a number of primary care providers in multiple locations, using a hub- and-spoke mode. The technology enables more primary care providers to manage patients with chronic conditions and complex care needs.
Now DOD is becoming more involved and is going to build upon early successes piloted by the Army, which so far has established ECHO hubs at four Army installations:
- Eisenhower Army Medical Center
- Womack Army Medical Center
- Tripler Army Medical Center
- Landstuhl Army Medical Center.
All of these ECHO sites have pain management teams practicing in specialized fields. Plus providing alternative medical therapies. This initial DOD rollout of telehealth is continuing in these areas, but also is expected to expand into additional specialty areas.
According to LT. General Patricia D. Horoho, Army Surgeon General appearing before the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Defense last April, “Army clinicians are currently offering care via telehealth in multiple medical disciplines across 18 time zones and in over 30 countries and territories. The Army has provided over 34,000 real-time patient encounters and consultations between providers in garrison in FY 13, and over 2,300 additional encounters in operational environments.”
Horoho also told the Committee, “While the Army provides care via telehealth in 28 specialties, telebehavioral health accounts for 85 percent of the total telehealth volume in garrison with 57 percent in operational environments. Today, over 2,000 portable clinical video teleconferencing systems have been deployed to support behavioral health providers worldwide.”