Free support for Colorado providers to transform chronic pain care

Tuesday, March 15, 2016 02:47 PM

The Weitzman Institute, a center dedicated to primary care research and innovation, is working with the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to offer free telehealth education and training sessions to healthcare providers on evidence-based strategies for better management of complex pain and medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction.

Providers may participate in one or two HIPAA-compliant teleconferencing programs, which are available at no cost to their practices. 

• Project ECHO Pain connects primary care providers with chronic pain specialists to learn more holistic, multi-disciplinary approaches to treating chronic pain and to reduce the need for prescribing opioids. The sessions are provided twice monthly for one year. Participants and staff members from participating sites also receive access to PainNET, an online resource where staff can access pain care tools, news, and blogs, and collaborate with experts and peers.
• Project ECHO Buprenorphine links providers with specialists on buprenorphine treatment and counseling, providing them with the support and expert advice that they need to gain confidence in their management of opioid dependence with buprenorphine. The sessions are provided once a month for one year.

Last year, providers from 42 practices across all regions of Colorado participated in the Project ECHO Pain program provided by the Weitzman Institute and the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. Julie Brady, MD from Colorado Springs Health Partners explains, “Project ECHO® has helped me to have more honest, direct conversations with patients about the impact and risks of long-term narcotics. The case presentations have given me additional insight into alternative treatments for peripheral neuropathy and given my patients hope that we still have more options for treatment regimens.”

“ECHO sessions are designed to give healthcare providers real strategies and tools to help them manage complex pain cases and substance use disorders,” says Agi Erickson, director of Project ECHO. “Our participants report measurable improvement in their knowledge and ability to provide care in these areas.”  For more information about Project ECHO Pain and Project ECHO Buprenorphine, contact Erickson at ericksa@chc1.com or call 860-347-6971 ext. 3741. (Click here to view a brochure.)