Democratizing Type 1 Diabetes Specialty Care In The Primary Care Setting: Project Echo T1d

Project ECHOTM (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) is a hub-spoke telehealth outreach model that democratizes specialty knowledge to reduce disparities and improve health outcomes. Limited access to endocrinologists forces many primary care providers (PCPs) to manage patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) without specialty support. As such, Stanford and the University of Florida partnered to develop and pilot “ECHO T1D”, a teleECHOTM clinic focused on T1D in California (CA) and Florida (FL), respectively. Our goal was to demonstrate the feasibility of ECHO T1D and improve PCPs’ abilities to manage patients with T1D. Primary care spokes were recruited targeting Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) where vulnerable T1D patient populations more likely rely on PCPs for care. In CA, 11 spokes enrolled with 37 clinics serving ∼900 patients with T1D who do not receive routine specialty T1D care. In FL, 12 spokes enrolled with 67 clinics serving ∼1,000 patients with T1D. Multidisciplinary hub team specialists were recruited and a 6-month curriculum was developed. Weekly 1-hour teleECHO sessions consisting of didactic presentations and case reviews were offered for 27 sessions. Weekly engagement of the 70 participating PCPs (69% in CA) ranged from 0 to 27 (mean 14) sessions and 65 completed both baseline and exit surveys. Baseline data demonstrated low confidence in providing T1D care, especially related to diabetes technology. Pre/post surveys demonstrated statistically significant improvements in provider confidence in T1D management and knowledge (p=0.02). PCPs who attended ≥ 50% sessions had the largest improvements. Over 90% of PCPs reported changes in medical practice (e.g., insulin and pump adjustments) and 95% would recommend the program to colleagues. The ECHO model can be applied to T1D to improve PCPs’ ability to manage patients with T1D. Future directions include evaluating influence on patient level outcomes and applying the model to insulin-requiring T2D patients. Disclosure N. Cuttriss: None. C. Anez-Zabala: None. L.G. Baer: None. S.L. Filipp: None. M. Basina: None. M.J. Gurka: None. L. Figg: None. M.J. Haller: Advisory Panel; Self; SAB Biotherapeutics, Inc. K.K. Hood: Research Support; Self; Dexcom, Inc. Speaker’s Bureau; Self; LifeScan, Inc., MedIQ. X. Roque: None. R. Lal: Consultant; Self; Abbott, Biolinq. S.C. Westen: None. D.M. Maahs: Advisory Panel; Self; Eli Lilly and Company, Insulet Corporation, Medtronic, Novo Nordisk A/S. Consultant; Self; Abbott, Sanofi. Research Support; Self; Bigfoot Biomedical, Dexcom, Inc., Roche Diabetes Care, Tandem Diabetes Care. M. Town: Other Relationship; Self; Insulet Corporation. C. Wang: None. J.J. Wong: None. K. Yabut: None. A.F. Walker: None. Funding The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust