Project ECHO^® dermatology in the deep south: a comprehensive SWOT assessment

There are nearly 45,000 patients for each dermatologist in the rural State of Mississippi, causing many patients to wait months for an appointment in a city that may be hours away [1]. To address this critical gap, Project ECHO^® (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) was launched at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) in 2020 to teach rural primary care providers (PCPs) to care for common skin conditions. PCPs present images of their patients in a once monthly video teleconference that provides immediate feedback. A SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) of the UMMC dermatology Project ECHO^® was conducted to assess the efficacy of this approach. The greatest strength is the perception of value by attendees which is reflected by growing numbers of primary care physician participants. This engagement is tracked by the number of people who join the teleconference virtually. The greatest threat is the inability to motivate participants to complete post-teleconference surveys for program feedback. This limits the ability of the program to fully assess its efficacy and identify opportunities for improvement. Looking forward, UMMC plans to offer incentives for survey completion and expand Project ECHO's reach by collaborating with other institutions to permit harmonization of metrics and facilitate data analysis for publications and grant applications.