Using an Innovative Telehealth Model to Support Community Providers Who Deliver Perinatal HIV Care

Mountain West AETC (AIDS Education and Training Center) ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes), a longitudinal HIV telemen-toring program, connects community providers and a multidisciplinary specialist team at the University of Washington. The program employs focused lectures and real-time case discussions to educate and support providers in low-resource and rural settings. We assessed the impact of the program on management of perinatal HIV through surveying community providers who participate, and reviewing cases presented by providers for consultation. One hundred percent of providers who presented a perinatal HIV case for ECHO consultation reported that presentation "very much" impacted management of the case, and 93% of survey respondents reported that ECHO participation helped them stay up to date on national perinatal HIV guidelines. All 13 cases had the successful outcome of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The ECHO model can effectively support and educate community providers who care for HIV-infected pregnant women.