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Home — College of Medicine — Department of Internal Medicine — Divisions — Infectious Diseases — Project ECHO — Achieving Equitable Health Outcomes in Nebraska

Achieving Equitable Health Outcomes in Nebraska

An ECHO Project Funded by Nebraska DHHS through a CDC Grant

Timeline: June 2023-May 2024

This program supports health care organizations in applying quality improvement tools to improve health equity in alignment with the Joint Commission’s National Patient Safety Goal 16.10.01.

The Joint Commission’s standard applies to ambulatory care organizations, behavioral health care, human services organizations, critical access hospitals, and hospitals. We welcome participation from all Nebraska-based organizations seeking to improve health equity, regardless of whether they must meet the Joint Commission’s standard.

Program highlights include:

  • Monthly 60-minute webinars led by state subject matter experts offered on the third Wednesday of each month at 12 p.m. CT beginning June 21, 2023. Session recordings are available to registered participants who are unable to attend.
  • 1:1 quality improvement coaching (up to 1 session/month) to support the design and implementation of a quality improvement project to improve health equity in alignment with the Joint Commission’s standard.
  • Reimbursement for project-related expenses up to $2,000 for an approved quality improvement project.
  • Access to a community of peers in Nebraska seeking to improve health equity in their organizations and communities.
  • Continuing education credits available for AMA, ANCC, ASWB ACE, or PACE.
  • “Health Equity and Quality Improvement Champion” certification from the UNMC-ID ECHO program for individuals who complete a quality improvement project and participate in program sessions
Watch Phase 1 Videos

Achieving Equitable Health Outcomes in Nebraska: Priority Sessions from Phase 1

Health Equity and Cultural Sensitivity:

  1. Session 18: Communicating Health Equity and Emotional Intelligence (Dr. Andrea Jones and Dr. Nada Fadul)
  2. Session 19: Enhancing Sensitivity to Cultural Similarities and Differences (Dr. Donna Polk and Dr. Shirley Delair)
  3. Session 27: Leveraging Clinical and Public Health Data to Eliminate Health Disparities, part 1 (University of WI Population Health Institute Team)
  4. Session 28: Leveraging Clinical and Public Health Data to Eliminate Health Disparities, part 2 (Mahelet, Kebede and Michael Griffin)

Infection Prevention and Control:

  1. Session 2: Basic Infection Prevention and Control Infrastructure (Dr. Ashraf Salman and Dr. Anum Abbas)
  2. Session 5: Long Term Complications of COVID-19 Infection, part 1 (Dr. Kelly Cawcutt)
  3. Session 14: Long Term Complications of COVID-19 Infection, part 2 (Dr. Kelly Cawcutt)
  4. Session 18: Antibiotic Stewardship (Dr. Andrew Watkins)

Quality Improvement and Management:

  1. Session 7: What is the Problem You are Trying to Solve? (Dr. Gale Etherton, Dr. Mahliqha Qasimyar, and Jeff Wetherhold)
  2. Session 8: What is Your Process? (Dr. Gale Etherton, Dr. Mahliqha Qasimyar, and Jeff Wetherhold)
  3. Session 9: Where are the Known or Potential Points of Failure? (Dr. Gale Etherton, Dr. Mahliqha Qasimyar, and Jeff Wetherhold)
Quality Improvement Project Proposal Form
Please click this link to access the project proposal form.
Phase 2 Session Agendas, Key Takeaways and Presentations
Click here to view all the sessions' agendas, key takeaways, and presentations.
Health Equity Accreditation Resource
Click to view the resource, which was created to support health care facilities and health departments to meet the specific health equity accreditation requirements from The Joint Commission (TJC) and the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). 
Learn More
Click here to learn more about this project.

More info and Phase 1 videos

View our health equity accreditation resource