Department of Veterans Affairs Announces First Nationwide Pilot of Project ECHO

*** MEDIA ADVISORY *** 

Briefing 

Wednesday, July 11, 2012
10:00 – 11:30 AM
Department of Veterans Affairs, Room 230
810 Vermont Avenue, NW, Washington DC

Department of Veterans Affairs Announces First Nationwide Pilot

of Project ECHO, Expanding Specialty Care Access for Millions of U.S. Veterans

 

Transformative Medical Education and Care Delivery Model Has Widespread Implications for Treatment Access, Quality, and Workforce Capacity

 

On Wednesday, July 11, 2012, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will announce the launch of a pilot program within the VA system that will extend high-quality, specialty health care to millions of Veterans to treat conditions like heart failure, chronic pain, and hepatitis C in their local communities. 

VA’s new program, called Specialty Care Access Network-Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (SCAN-ECHO), represents the first nationwide implementation of Project ECHO, an innovative model of medical education and care delivery that is dramatically expanding workforce capacity to treat patients with complex, chronic illnesses, regardless of where they live.

VA operates the nation’s largest integrated health care system.  The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), which has been supporting Project ECHO with a three-year, $5 million grant, will join the July 11 event.

During this event, a high-level panel of experts—including Robert A. Petzel, MD, VA’s Under Secretary for Health, and Sanjeev Arora, MD, the social innovator who created Project ECHO—will demonstrate how the ECHO model works and how it is poised to transform health care delivery and the diffusion of medical knowledge and best practices.  

In May, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the award of a three-year, $8.5 million Health Care Innovation grant for Project ECHO to expand its operations in New Mexico and Washington state. 

WHO:  

                     - Robert A. Petzel, MD, Under Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs  
                     - John R. Lumpkin, MD, Senior Vice President and Director, Health Care Group, Robert Wood                          Johnson Foundation  
                     - Sanjeev Arora, MD, creator and leader of Project ECHO, University of New Mexico Health                                 Sciences Center, Albuquerque  
                     - Moderator: Susan Kirsh, MD, Louis Stokes VA Medical Center, Cleveland 
                     - Specialty and Primary Care Providers from the Cleveland VA Medical Center 

 

WHEN:       
                      Wednesday, July 11, 2012,  10-11:30am
                      Department of Veterans Affairs Central Office
                      Room 230
                      810 Vermont Avenue, NW, Washington, DC

                       (Nearest Metro is McPherson Square on the blue/orange lines, White House exit)

                        Note: Please allow additional time to get through security.

CONTACT:     Dionne Dougall-Bass, 301-961-5803, dionne@burnesscommunications.com
                         Kay Campbell, 301-280-5742, kcampbell@burnesscommunications.com

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