PROJECT ECHO, HPNRI WORK TO IMPROVE HEALTH ACROSS OKLAHOMA

OSU Center for Health Sciences’ Project ECHO and OSU’s Human Performance and Nutrition Research Institute (HPNRI) are working together to improve health outcomes in Oklahoma with support from a $4.5 million grant from the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET).

The Extension for Community Health Care Outcomes (ECHO) model enables health care providers in rural and underserved areas to connect with specialists at academic medical centers via a digital platform for training and consultation.

Rural communities account for nearly 34% of Oklahoma’s population but struggle to provide robust access to health care due to hospital closures and provider shortages. And according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Oklahoma has the second highest death rate from heart disease in the country. The state also posted the second highest death rate from lower respiratory disease mortality, the fourth highest death rate from cancer and the fifth highest death rate related to diabetes.

HPNRI was created in 2022 with a vision to address changeable health outcomes. Now, through the power of research, the academic institute is estab - lishing the groundwork for developing preventative therapeutic strategies to combat obesity and chronic diseases.

With the TSET funding, Project ECHO and HPNRI have already launched the first-of-its-kind Athletic Training – Sports Medicine ECHO line and expanded the current Pediatric Obesity ECHO line beyond medical providers to now include school health professionals as well. The two will also launch the Building Healthy School Communities ECHO line in January.

Project ECHO is also using TSET funding to launch Artificial Intelligence in Education ECHO and Peroxisomal Disorders ECHO in October, and a Community Health Worker ECHO in November.

Other TSET-funded ECHOs in development include Hypertension Management and Primary Care; Diabetes in Primary Care; Diabetes in Tribal Nations; School Nurses and Diabetes Care; and Supporting Rural Physicians.

Project ECHO also receives grant funding from the Oklahoma State Department of Health, Oklahoma State Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and the Zarrow Foundation.

SINCE 2020

74,489

Total ECHO Attendance

62,888

Health Care ECHOs

Total Attendance

46.4

Average attendees per sessions

POTENTIAL HEALTH COST SAVINGS

62,888 participants in health care ECHO sessions since 2020.

If participants then treat 10 patients, that’s

628,880 patients treated.

If patients aren’t referred to an outside specialist for care, the potential cost savings is $1,173 per patient.

628,880 patients treated provides potential cost savings of $737.6 million since 2020.