— College of Medicine — Department of Internal Medicine — Divisions — Infectious Diseases — Project ECHO — Achieving Equitable Health Outcomes in Nebraska — Phase 1 Sessions and Information

Phase 1 Sessions and Information

A man receives a vaccine at a community clinic

This course is designed to reduce COVID-19 health disparities through quality improvement.

The project's vision is to eliminate health disparities and improve the wellbeing of all Nebraskans.Its mission is to implement statewide cutting-edge programs with the support of tele-mentorship and coaching from highly qualified subject matter experts.

Modules:

Health equity
Cultural sensitivity
COVID-19 response, infection control, long COVID
Quality improvement

Course Description

Achieving health equity, addressing COVID-19 disparities and improving the health of all Nebraskans using a quality improvement approach are the goals for our newly launched educational initiative. This COVID-19-focused health equity and quality improvement educational series will use the ECHO model for training healthcare workers. The course is being offered through the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) infectious diseases (ID) ECHO program and is funded by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) via a CDC grant.

The educational sessions began Nov. 3, 2021 and the learners meet twice monthly throughout this 18-month project to learn and exchange knowledge on topics that include the principles of infection control, health equity, quality improvement, and cultural sensitivity.

Twice monthly sessions are held via the Zoom platform on the first and third Wednesdays of each month between 12:00 to 1:30 pm CST. The first hour is mandatory for receiving educational credits followed by an optional 30-minute discussion session.

Overview

This educational project aims to assist health care workers in identifying COVID-19 health disparities, developing targeted strategies to mitigate those disparities, and implementing quality improvement projects to promote health equity and cultural sensitivity within their practice setting.

Curriculum and Credit

Benefits of Enrollment

Audience

The curriculum for this educational series has been developed by infectious diseases, quality improvement, and health equity experts who will use interactive case-based learning methodology for an enhanced learning experience. The educational sessions will achieve stated goals by highlighting COVID-19 health disparities and discussing strategies for mitigation. A wide range of COVID-19 related topics will be discussed including source control, testing, vaccination, quarantine/isolation, general infection control procedures, and management of active cases. Identification and management of “Long COVID (or Post-COVID conditions)” will also be discussed in detail in this course.

Enrolled learners will also have access to quality improvement and health equity coaches who will be guiding the learners in developing and implementing quality improvement projects aimed to address health disparities within their scope of practice. Healthcare organizations whose representatives are enrolled in the educational training will also be eligible to apply for up to $2000 expense reimbursement* related to approved project implementation within their scope of practice target on reducing health disparities. The funding is available to support up to 100 approved projects.

*The maximum expense reimbursement limit is $2000 for each organization even if multiple representatives are enrolled in the course.

We have partnered with UNMC’s Continuing Education offices to provide AMA PRA Category 1 CME Credits^TM, ANCC contact hours, ASWB ACE credits, and PACE credits will be available for each individual session without any cost to the learners. In addition, learners who will attend greater than 70% of the sessions and implement a quality improvement project will receive a certificate of completion (“Health Equity and Quality Improvement Champion”) from the UNMC-ID ECHO program at the end of the course.

CE and CME certificates for sessions attended will be provided on a quarterly basis, and those who complete all requirements will receive a 'Health Equity and Quality Improvement Champion' certificate by the end of the project.

Remain up to date on constantly changing guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic for improving COVID-19 prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in your practice setting.
Have direct access to state subject matter experts for discussing real-life challenging scenarios related to infection prevention and control, COVID-19 management guidance, quality improvement, health equity, and cultural sensitivity.
Improve capability to use cultural communication strategies with staff and patients from marginalized communities that continue to be disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
Engage with and learn from the experiences of your peers from different organizations across Nebraska to address COVID-19 health disparities in your practice settings and communities.
Use quality improvement methods and tools to build more reliable processes in your facilities.
Build your capability in data collection and analyses to document the effectiveness of practice changes in your work settings.
Obtain free educational credits for participating in the live training sessions via Zoom.
Secure up to $2000 for your organization in expense reimbursement for implementing an approved project aimed to address health disparities in your practice setting/community.
Earn “Health Equity and Quality Improvement Champion” certificate from UNMC-ID ECHO program upon successful completion of the training.

The target audience includes, but is not limited to:

Physicians, Physician Assistants, and Nurse Practitioners
Nurses including RN and LPN
Certified Nursing Assistants
Social Workers
Case Managers
Quality Program Leaders
Health administrators
Healthcare workers working in various settings including outpatient clinics, urgent care centers, ambulatory surgery centers, rural health clinics, home health agencies, dialysis centers, long-term care settings, hospitals, and community health centers
Staff working in health-related organizations, (e.g., pharmacies, testing centers, community health workers)
The staff of health-related community-based and civic organizations
School Health Clinics
Social services providers and organizations, including those that address social determinants of health

Quality Improvement Project Proposal Form

Please click this link to access the project proposal form.

Phase 1 Sessions Agendas, Key Takeaways and Presentations

Click here to view the Phase 1 agendas, key takeaways, and presentations.

Global Objectives

By the end of the ECHO Project, participants will be able to:

Explain the relationship of principles of health equity, cultural sensitivity, infection prevention and control, and quality management.
Develop the skill set to address COVID-19-related health disparities and provide quality healthcare with a culturally sensitive, equity-minded approach.
Implement a quality improvement project that addresses a need at the facility level related to health disparity or cultural sensitivity.

Health Equity Module Objectives

Upon completion of the health equity module, participants will be able to:

Describe the historical and social context for a marginalized community's engagement with health care systems.
Explain how COVID-19 and other determinants of health uniquely impact marginalized communities, public health, and health equity.
Analyze clinical data sets to assess for health disparities and health equity in clinical outcomes.
Leverage community partnerships and stakeholder collaboration to implement health equity initiatives.
Implement a health equity-centered COVID-19 vaccine and prevention initiative.

Cultural Sensitivity Module Objectives

Upon completion of the cultural sensitivity module, participants will be able to:

Discuss how cultural beliefs and practices shape a persons' interpretation and experience of COVID-19 in terms of the disease, prevention (vaccine/testing), and treatments.
Use effective cultural communication strategies when interacting with patients of all cultural backgrounds.
Assess your health care facility/staff's COVID-19-related biases, stereotypes, and level of cultural sensitivity.
Leverage community partnerships and stakeholder collaboration to implement culturally sensitive practices.
Implement a culturally responsive COVID-19 vaccine and prevention initiative.

COVID-19, Infection Control, and Long COVID Module Objectives

Upon completion of the COVID-19 Infection Control and Long COVID module, participants will be able to:

Describe the principles of infection prevention and control (IPC) and the skills required for the successful implementation of IPC programs.
Review the long-term complications and management of COVID-19 infection including long COVID.
Articulate the role of relevant data collection and analysis for identifying and mitigating IPC-related challenges (e.g., vaccine hesitancy, the reluctance with testing, etc.) for higher risk and historically underserved patient groups, including racial and ethnic minority populations and people living in rural communities.
Discuss changes needed in IPC processes and infectious diseases management approaches for addressing health disparities including inequalities in COVID-19 prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

Quality Management Module Objectives

Upon completion of the quality improvement module, participants should be able to:

Discuss Quality Improvement (QI) tools best practices when identifying potential solutions to root causes concerning processes involving marginalized population(s) and/or for COVID-19 related interventions.
Appraise your current data infrastructure (i.e., data collection tool, data objects, data analysis, data reporting, and data trending) by comparing it to optimal data collection systems that contextualize racial, ethnic, and rural health.
Apply team training knowledge and skills with identified partners (e.g., other healthcare providers, patients, community leaders, and organizations) interactions when implementing change and addressing inequities in COVID-19 prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in their communities.

Funding Disclosure

The program is funded by Nebraska DHHS through a 1.6-million-dollar CDC grant focused on using ECHO learning model for healthcare workers to strengthen capability, capacity, and resilience to respond to COVID-19 and future infectious diseases. Majority (85%) of these funds are directed towards the UNMC ID ECHO project to reduce COVID-19 health disparities through quality improvement. This includes providing training on health equity and cultural competency concepts, quality improvement techniques, infection prevention and control principles, and COVID-19 related long-term healthcare effects with the special focus on outpatient health care settings as well as community-based organizations. Furthermore, UNMC ID ECHO project funding covers free coaching for assisting learners in implementing quality improvement projects to address health disparities in their practice settings as well as reimbursement of quality improvement project related expenses to the learners' organization (limit of $2000 per organization).

Phase 2

Here's what some of our course participants have to say about their Project ECHO experience:

“Learning about the different types of health equity and the importance of being aware of cultural sensitivity…have helped me grow as a person and a nurse" - Laura Frayser, Infection Preventionist

"It's just knowing we have the availability and accessibility to the experts, the best of the best … at our fingertips. It doesn't get any better than that. We're so lucky." - Anna Fisher, Nurse

"I might not see the results of all these changes, but having some assurance that making the change now will result in improvements in people's outcomes was motivating.” - Karen Shrader, Physician Assistant

"It has helped me make sure that whenever I'm going into conversations or I'm leading a brave space, that I address my own biases first.” - Shanda Ross, Director of Engagement Outreach and Belonging

“It would be really nice if everybody on our quality team got to participate in something like this.” - Jamie Juilfs, Infection Preventionist