Project ECHO
Every year, millions of patients cannot get the care they need because medical expertise is concentrated in major cities, far away from where most people live.
Project ECHO moves knowledge instead of people, so that millions of patients in dozens of countries across six continents can get the care they need. By combining proven adult learning techniques and basic video technology, Project ECHO connects groups of frontline healthcare providers with specialists at a distant medical center in weekly “virtual clinics” of tele-mentoring, case presentations, and collaborative practice. In this way, locally-based health workers gain the expertise they need to diagnose and treat complex medical conditions like tuberculosis, hepatitis C and HIV – with cure rates equaling those of experts.
With Co-Impact’s support, Project ECHO is poised to expand dramatically in India, which has the ideal conditions for scaling impact: a population of 1.2 billion; a good information, communication and technology infrastructure; and millions of trained health workers. Building connection, capacity and motivation across the system, from national policymakers to state and district leaders to frontline medical practitioners, Project ECHO will help transform healthcare for 3-6 million people across the country. With additional funding over time, this approach could contribute to improving the wellbeing of up to 400 million people in India and around the world.
