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For patients throughout West Virginia, access to specialty care has long been a challenge. Getting expert specialty treatment once meant choosing between hours of travel or going without it altogether. Ten years ago, the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute (WVCTSI) set out to change that.
This summer, WVCTSI Project ECHO marks its 10-year anniversary of transforming care by moving specialty knowledge, not patients. The initiative began when Cabin Creek Health Systems reached out to WVCTSI to explore a partnership that would expand community access to specialty care.
At its core, Project ECHO is a simple idea: enable frontline healthcare workers to provide specialist-level care through virtual, case-based learning. What began as a focused effort for WVCTSI to address pressing health concerns in the state, like hepatitis C and the opioid epidemic, has now grown into a statewide and national network of collaboration that includes 32 states and the District of Columbia.
Through regularly scheduled sessions, doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals present real, de-identified patient cases and learn directly from interdisciplinary expert teams at West Virginia University, WVU Medicine and other institutions across West Virginia. The result is not just an answer to a single question, but an increase in provider knowledge and confidence, which allows them to deliver higher-level care within their own communities.
“Over the past 10 years, Project ECHO has completely changed how we can deliver specialty care in West Virginia,” said Dr. Sally Hodder, WVCTSI director, associate vice president for clinical and translational science and Preeminent Scholar Chair at West Virginia University. “By empowering our fantastic local providers, we are able to improve outcomes for patients in communities that need it most.”
Over the past decade, the program has continued to expand beyond its original areas of emphasis. WVCTSI Project ECHO now spans a wide range of topic areas shaped by the evolving needs of West Virginians. Areas covered by past and current WVCTSI Project ECHO sessions include chronic pain management, behavioral health, chronic lung disease, psychiatry, family medicine and memory health. Programs like memory health emerged to address conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, while pain management initiatives helped clinicians adopt safer evidence-based approaches amid the ongoing opioid crisis.
“Ten years ago when Project ECHO kicked off, I was excited to be able to treat Hepatitis C patients locally. Now it’s just as exciting when we see that someone has been cured without having to travel. Project ECHO removes one of the major barriers to care in our practice. As the program has expanded we have been able to treat patients with other complicated conditions, and I feel that I know the specialists involved. And maybe more importantly, they know me and we can all work together to improve the health of our patients,” said Dr. Carmen Rexrode, a family physician in Franklin, West Virginia and longtime Project ECHO participant.
In 2021, WVCTSI Project ECHO hit a major milestone and was, at the time, one of only eight Project ECHO Superhubs in the United States. This designation means that WVCTSI now helps train other organizations to launch their own ECHO programs, extending the model’s reach far beyond state borders and into communities facing similar challenges.
A decade in, WVCTSI Project ECHO continues to evolve, add new subject areas, strengthen partnerships and respond to emerging health needs as they arise. This evolution and expansion ensures one very important thing: patients in the Mountain State can receive the best possible care, regardless of where they live.
“To think that we have been doing Project ECHO for 10 years is pretty amazing. I want to express my sincere appreciation to the WVCTSI ECHO team, our dedicated partners, faculty experts, community participants, and healthcare professionals whose commitment has made this work possible,” said Jay Mason, director of community engagement and WVCTSI Project ECHO. “Together, we have expanded access to specialized knowledge, strengthened professional networks, and enhanced opportunities for learning and collaboration across West Virginia. I am humbled by the trust the provider community has shown in Project ECHO and remain inspired by their commitment to provide the best care to their patients. Looking ahead, I am excited to build on this momentum, foster new partnerships, and continue advancing innovative education and support that improves health outcomes and strengthens communities for years to come.”
