Virtual Peer-to-Peer Learning to Enhance and Accelerate the Health System Response to COVID-19: The HHS ASPR Project...

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Public Health
• Medical Education

Background:

• Dynamic learning health systems require agile responses to public health crises like COVID-19.
• The US Department of Health and Human Services sought digital solutions to support healthcare professionals.
• Project ECHO at the University of New Mexico partnered with multiple organizations to address this need.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a real-time virtual peer-to-peer clinical education initiative focused on COVID-19.
• To support healthcare providers across various care settings during the pandemic.
• To create a scalable information-sharing network for clinical best practices.

Main Methods:

• Development of the COVID-19 Clinical Rounds Initiative, a virtual learning network.
• Focus on three critical care points: out-of-hospital/EMS, emergency departments, and inpatient critical care.
• Engagement of participants across all 50 US states and over 100 countries.

Main Results:

• Facilitated a massive peer-to-peer learning network for real-time information exchange.
• Conducted 125 learning sessions between March 2020 and February 2021.
• Delivered over 58,000 total learner-hours of contact within the first 11 months.

Conclusions:

• The initiative successfully created a robust digital health solution for continuous learning.
• Demonstrated the effectiveness of virtual peer-to-peer networks in disseminating critical health information.
• The model supports learning health systems in responding to global health emergencies.