Project ECHO for Cancer Care: a Scoping Review of Provider Outcome Evaluations.

The Project ECHO model of telementoring has been used for the past 10 years to expand access to specialized cancer care. This scoping review identifies evidence for the model's ability to improve provider outcomes, synthesizing findings from existing studies within Moore et al.'s (2009) framework for continuing medical education outcomes. We search two large research databases and a collection maintained by Project ECHO staff for articles that focus on cancer ECHO programs, involve primary data collection, and were published between December 1, 2016, and November 30, 2021. We identified 25 articles for inclusion in our scoping review. Most articles reported results for outcomes related to program participation: attendance, satisfaction, and learning. Yet, just under half reported changes in provider practices. Results demonstrate widespread participation and improved learning resulting from ECHO programs focused on cancer care. There is also evidence of improved practices related to HCV vaccination and palliative care. We highlight examples of best practices as well as opportunities to improve provider outcome evaluations for cancer ECHO programs.

Project ECHO Cancer Initiative: a Tool to Improve Care and Increase Capacity Along the Continuum of Cancer Care.

Solving health problems requires not only the development of new medical knowledge but also its dissemination, particularly to underserved communities. The barriers to effective dissemination also contribute to the disparities in cancer care experienced most everywhere. This concern is particularly acute in low and middle-income countries which already bear a disproportionate burden of cancer, a situation that is projected to worsen. Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) is a knowledge dissemination platform that can increase workforce capacity across many fields, including cancer care by scaling best practices. Here we describe how Project ECHO works and illustrate this with existing programs that span the cancer care continuum and the globe. The examples provided combined with the explanation of how to build effective Project ECHO communities provide an accessible guide on how this education strategy can be integrated into existing work to help respond to the challenge of cancer.